Deontay Wilder elevated to #1 WBA – could he face Usyk next?

By Craig Daly: Deontay Wilder has been moved to #1 successful the WBA’s heavyweight rankings, putting him successful a presumption to perchance situation IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk next.

With the #1 ranking, Wilder could look Usyk adjacent if his absorption offers the existent WBA mandatory Daniel Dubois a measurement speech to get him retired of the way. Dubois is coming disconnected a atrocious genu injury, truthful it would enactment successful his favour to instrumentality a measurement speech to springiness himself much clip to recover.

If Dubois tin get an statement to wherever he’s guaranteed to combat the Usyk vs.  Wilder winner, helium could travel retired up successful a large way.

Not lone would Dubois get step-aside money, but helium could get a combat against Wilder if he’s victorious implicit Usyk. There would apt beryllium much wealth for Dubois facing Wilder than Usyk.

As agelong arsenic Dubois and his promoter aren’t stubborn, they tin get a overmuch bigger combat if they’re consenting to measurement speech to let Wilder to look Usyk.

Dubois looked horrible successful his past combat successful December, getting dropped 3 times by the overmuch smaller erstwhile cruiserweight Kevin Lerena, and seemingly saved from getting stopped by the referee letting the contention proceed to play retired contempt Daniel suffering a atrocious genu injury.

Dubois was uninjured erstwhile helium was dropped by a consecutive near manus from the southpaw Lerena successful the first, truthful you can’t blasted that connected his genu injury. When Dubois fell,  helium wounded his genu and was helpless and continued to autumn each clip Lerena touched him with a near hand.

What was astonishing is Lerena stopped throwing punches aft the archetypal round. It’s unclear whether helium gassed retired oregon thought helium would get Dubois retired successful the aboriginal rounds. It was precise odd.

The World Boxing Association indispensable person liked what they saw from erstwhile WBC champion Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) with his blistering first-round knockout implicit top-ten contender Robert Helenius past October successful Brooklyn, New York.

Some fans consciousness unhappy that Wilder moved up of Martin Bakole (18-1, 13 KOs) successful the WBA’s rankings, arsenic helium precocious defeated antecedently unbeaten 2016 Olympic ace heavyweight golden medalist Tony Yoka by a 10-round bulk determination past May.

While that triumph for the 29-year-old Bakole looked large then, overmuch of the radiance was taken distant from it erstwhile 42-year-old Carlos Takam defeated Yoka by a 10-round divided determination past March.

Takam looked amended astatine beating Yoka than Bakole did contempt being overmuch older.