Deontay Wilder will make the first defense of his heavyweight belt against massive underdog Eric Molina on Saturday night (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, in what is viewed as a mismatch by most.
What the fight really amounts to is a homecoming celebration for Wilder after he won the belt in a dominant decision win against Bermane Stiverne in January in Las Vegas.
Assuming Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) beats Molina (23-2, 17 KOs), he is supposed to have a mandatory defense against Alexander Povetkin of Russia. But the big fight in the heavyweight division would be Wilder against the real champion, Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 54 KOs), to unify the four major belts.
They are familiar with each other because Klitschko invited Wilder to one of his recent training camps and sparred with him, giving him high marks and praise.
With Molina given little chance, it came as no surprise that Wilder was asked about the prospect of a unification fight with Klitschko, who retained the title for the 18th time via lopsided unanimous decision against Bryant Jennings on April 25 at Madison Square Garden, Klitschko’s first fight in the United States since 2008.
“Well, I'm going to put it like this, that fight is titled not if it's going to happen, but when it's going to happen,” Wilder said of an eventual showdown with Klitschko. “Of course, that's something I think about, but at this moment in time, I'm not focused on him. He will get his turn as well too, and last time I checked, I have the most prestigious, most well-known, most precious, beautiful belt in all of boxing, something that's been around for a very long time, and that's the WBC crown, it's something that everybody wants.
“So, I have that. I'm the owner of that, so I'm not worried about anything else. Right now, it's all about Deontay Wilder and Eric Molina, and that's what I'm looking forward to.”
OK, but what did he think of Klitschko’s performance against Jennings, which was a little ragged compared to his recent defenses?
“We all seen loose holes. We all see something that was there. If anybody says they didn't, then they're a liar,” Wilder said. “We all seen that, but when that time comes, I'm going to execute those things that I saw. But right now, it's hard to talk about another fighter when you've got one fighter that you're getting ready to face.
“My focus is not on another fighter because if I don't get past [Molina], we can forget talking about anybody else. It's irrelevant to talk about anybody else if this fight isn't done. It's not over yet, so it's hard for me to state or talk about another fighter when I've got a task that lies at hand. Once I get finished with Molina, then we can come back and talk about Klitschko.”