Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (20-0, 20 KOs) will face Chris “Special K” Koval (25-8, 18 KOs) in the heavyweight division on Saturday, February 25th. The bout will take place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Americans continue to wait for their next great heavyweight, eyeing all prospects in the division. Wilder turned pro in 2008 after becoming the 2007 National Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion and a Bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Wilder comes into this bout undefeated and having knocked out all twenty of his opponents. He’s only been past the first round in a fight seven times, and he’s never been past the fourth round. We know he has power, the question will be if he can sustain that energy in later rounds as he moves up to take on more highly skilled opponents.
Koval comes into this fight with several disadvantages, one being size. At 6’2”, he is five inches shorter than his opponent, and with a 74” reach, he’s at a ten-inch deficit. Additionally, since 2007 he’s gone 2-5, with four of those losses coming by TKO. Koval is serving a as step-up for Wilder, but with his tendency to lose by knockout, this may be a short fight.
This bout will be on the undercard of the main event that will feature Devon Alexander vs. Marcos Maidana and co-feature Adrien Broner vs. Eloy Perez (both of which will be aired on HBO’s Boxing After Dark at 10pm ET/PT).
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