By Sevak Sarkisian

Hard-hitting WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0 38KO’s) will be making his return to the ring to defend his title on Saturday, March 3rd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn New York. He will be facing undefeated Cuban sensation Luis Ortiz (28-0 24KO’s). This bout is part of the Premier Boxing Champions boxing series that will be televised live on Showtime.

Deontay Wilder captured the WBC heavyweight world title in January of 2015 against then-champion, Bermane Stiverne by unanimous decision. Stiverne is the only opponent to go the full distance with Wilder, however, Wilder viciously finished him off in under one round in their rematch this past November. Since winning the title back in 2015, Wilder has defended it six times against the likes of Artur Spilka, Chris Arreola, and Gerald Washington. Wilder was supposed to defend his title against the #1 contender in Alexander Povetkin however, a positive pre-fight drug test for Povetkin prevented that fight from happening.

Deontay Wilder stands at 6’7 in height and possesses an 83-inch reach according to Boxrec. He is extremely athletic and agile for a guy his size and carries true one punch KO power especially in that right hand. Many critics say Wilder at times tends to get sloppy and wild, but in my opinion the better is opponent is the more disciplined he fights and the first Stiverne fight was a testament to that. In that fight, he worked off the jab very nicely and stayed in his punching distance for the most part.

Wilder has a great one-two combination and a good long jab along with size and athleticism. He has shown us that he can box and bang when he wants but he can obviously still get more technically polished.

Luis Ortiz, on the other hand, has a had a very long and fantastic amateur career and is a product of the Cuban system. Ortiz made his debut as a professional fighter in 2010 and is the former interim WBA world titlist. He has wins over the likes of Lateef Kayode, Bryant Jennings, and Malik Scott. According to Boxrec He stands at 6’4 and possesses an 84” inch reach. He has great technique and is an accurate puncher with good power. Ortiz has also shown and proved to the fans that once he gets an opponent hurt he doesn’t let them off the hook and is a great finisher.

This fight is a matchup between two elite level heavyweights with power and is guaranteed to provide fireworks for us fans! It is also obviously an extremely important match up with Wilder defending his world title and the winner guaranteed to move on to bigger and better things such as possibly unifying the belts with Anthony Joshua.