Deontay Wilder puts his WBC heavyweight title on the line for the 4th time this Saturday when he faces Chris Arreola in Birmingham, Alabama.

Currently 36-0, with an impressive 97.2% knockout ratio, Wilder won the WBC heavyweight belt back in January 2015, beating Bermane Stiverne by unanimous decision. Since then he has gone on to successfully defend his title 3 times, beating Eric Molina (KO), Johann Duhaupas (TKO) and, most recently, Artur Szpilka (KO) in the space of 12 months. 

Wilder was actually meant to see his 4th defence back in May, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ all set to face Russia’s Alexander Povetkin. However, one week before the fight Povetkin tested positive for the banned substance meldonium, causing the fight to be cancelled (or indefinitely postponed, depending on who you ask).



Povetkin’s problems have opened the door for Chris Arreola, who will be hoping to win the WBC heavyweight title on the 3rd time of asking. Arreola’s first chance came back in 2009, where, fresh off a 27 fight unbeaten run, he headed to the Staples Center in his home town of LA to face Vitali Klitschko. Yet Klitschko dominated, forcing Arreola’s corner to end the fight before the start of the 11th round.

Arreola’s next WBC heavyweight title shot didn’t come for almost 5 years, when he faced Bermane Stiverne in LA after Vitali Klitschko vacated the belt. Arreola had already lost to Stiverne by unanimous decision the year before, and seemingly not much had changed in the interim, the Canadian winning by TKO. 

Given all this it is hardly a surprise that Wilder is heavily favoured to keep hold of his title on Saturday, Spreadex offering a Wilder/Arreola 10-3 Supremacy spread of 28.5-31.5 alongside a Fight Minutes spread of 14-15.5. More interesting, then, is what this could mean for Wilder’s future.

Already Wilder and Tyson Fury (who heads into his October rematch against Wladimir Klitschko trailing his Ukrainian rival at a 10-3 Supremacy spread of 0-3) have butted heads. Minutes after Wilder beat Szpilka Fury was in the ring, the two champions getting in each other’s faces much to the delight of the crowd. And while their war of words was more like kids playing at WWE than the Ali-level smack talk, the wheels are surely already in motion for a meeting between two of the sports current giants.

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