The first question you must ask a newly-arrived heavyweight titlist is whether that person would have a chance to beat Wladimir Klitschko, who has reigned over this division for most of this century. As such, after Deontay Wilder beat trinket-holder Bermane Stiverne in a unanimous decision Saturday night, this is the main query for the first American belt-holder since Shannon Briggs? short reign in 2006-07: could Wilder end Klitschko?s title tenure?
He?d have a puncher?s chance, perhaps. Klitschko has been shaken up in the past ? notably by Corrie Sanders in his upset TKO win in 2003, and Klitschko was knocked down by Samuel Peter three times in 2005 ? and it?s not completely ridiculous to predict that Wilder?s impressive punching power and long reach could cause problems for Klitschko.
Those attributes rattled Stiverne on Saturday in the first real test of Wilder?s career.
Entering the ring, the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, native had won all 32 of his fights by knockout, but the biggest criticism for the 29-year old Wilder, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, was that he hadn?t faced anybody of consequence.
Beating Stiverne ? who had won his version of the heavyweight title only eight months ago ? gives Wilder some much-needed credibility. Especially since some observers believed Wilder ? and his potentially glass chin ? were made of fraudulent material.
Instead, Wilder used an impressive jab and a right hand that hurt Stiverne at least twice during the fight to win the lopsided decision.
But does his performance Saturday night tell us anything about his ability to beat Klitschko? Probably not. Stiverne is a decent-enough fighter, but he?d only risen to prominence in the past couple of years by twice beating contender Chris Arreola.
Klitschko is an entirely different class of fighter, and during the past 10 years, he?s become a much better boxer ? and a much better-conditioned boxer ? to go with his power-punching ability. Yes, Wilder, at 6-foot-7, could look the 6-6 Klitschko in the eyes, but that doesn?t mean he could slip inside Klitschko?s powerful jab in order to have a chance to land a punch that could test his chin.
Of course, not many expected that Wilder ? who had never been past the fourth round before Saturday?s fight ? would have to last through an entire 12-round bout. In many ways, Wilder beat back his critics while upending Stiverne.
? Wilder leans over ropes, looks at press row and shouts: Who can?t box? Who can?t box? #StiverneWilder #boxing
? Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) January 18, 2015
Beating back Klitschko is another story.
But Wilder could enjoy a slight advantage that Klitschko?s opponents don?t usually have. Wilder has worked as Klitschko?s sparring partner in the past, so it?s possible that Wilder (or somebody in Wilder?s camp) could have picked up intelligence that could help him if the two ever fight for prize money.
Yet Klitschko ? who holds the other three heavyweight belts and almost assuredly will want to fight Wilder for the chance to unify all the titles ? is a future Hall of Famer who?s been nearly impossible to beat for the past decade. That would be a heck of a conquest for the still largely-untested Wilder.
?I think I answered a lot of questions tonight,? Wilder said after the fight.
Wilder is right. The biggest question of all, though, still looms out there unanswered. Yet, with his performance Saturday, the question of beating Klitschko suddenly doesn?t seem quite as impossible as before.
