Deontay Wilder is set to face off against Eric Molina in defense of his WBC world heavyweight title on Saturday.
The six-foot-seven boxer has an impressive record of 33-0-0 with 32 of those wins coming by knockout. If there has been a consistent theme of Wilder’s career thus far, it’s that the man hits fast and he hits hard. As Wilder’s career is relatively still young, his resume has largely featured journeyman and, later, former heavyweight champions. Still, it’s the speed and fury with which Wilder dispatches his opponents that is most breathtaking.
In the span of four months in 2013, Wilder secured back-to-back first round victories against Audley Harrison and Siarhei Liakhovich. Harrison was a former European heavyweight champion (although he was also 41 when the fight occurred). After a brief feeling out period, Wilder hit Harrison with a flurry of punches that simply overwhelmed the much-more veteran boxer.
The fight against Liakhovic, a former WBO heavyweight champion and one of Wilder’s most impressive opponents to date (although Liakhovic was 37), was similarly decided by a simple punctuation of activity from Wilder that left Liakhovic completely out of it.
Wilder won the WBC world heavyweight title by unanimous decision against Bermane Stiverne earlier this year. Tellingly, he won comfortably. Amazingly, it was the first fight of Wilder’s career that lasted beyond the fourth round. The man is simply stunning to watch in the ring and while many expect the fight with Molina to be a mismatch, watching Deontay Wilder grow into his stature as a prime-time boxer should be a real treat (especially, judging by the tape so far, if one likes short, decisive matches).
