Deontay Wilder vs Gerald Washington Preview February 25th
Unbeaten WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder will be defending his crown against fellow American and undefeated boxer Gerald Washington this Saturday, February 25th at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Saturday’s 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. and Canada on the Fox Network while fans in the UK can see it live on Sky Sports 1. Wilder’s last bout was halted after the eighth round when he beat Chris Arreola back in July. Washington’s last fight was also in July when he stopped Ray Austin in four rounds.
Wilder vs Washington Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Gerald Washington +900
- Deontay Wilder -1600
My Pick
Wilder beat former WBC champ Bermaine Stiverne in January of 2015 by unanimous decision to claim the vacant title. Before running into Stiverne, Wilder had stopped all 32 of his opponents including Malik Scott and Audley Harrison. The 31-year-old Wilder of Tuscaloosa, Alabama will climb into the ring with a perfect record of 37-0 along with 36 Kos and will be defending his title for the fifth time. Wilder is a former Olympic bronze medalist who became the first American in close to a decade to own a portion of the heavyweight title when he beat Haiti’s Stiverne. That victory made him the first American heavyweight since 2007 to win a world belt with Shannon Briggs being the last to do it.
Wilder is basically well known for two things, which are his size and his power. He stands 6-feet-7-inches tall, has an 83-inch reach, and has stopped all but one of his opponents. The champion has 107 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008 and his knockout percentage ratio currently stands at 97 per cent. Just four of Wilder’s 36 Ko victims have made it past the fourth round and they were all his last three opponents; Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka and Arreola. And let’s not forget Stiverne was his previous opponent and went the distance with him, so perhaps Wilder’s power is waning?
The 34-year-old Washington of San Jose, California will enter the ring with a near-perfect record of 18-0-1 with 12 Kos. He has good power with a current knockout ratio of 63 per cent. He’s also one of the bigger heavyweights around as he stands 6-feet-6-inches in height and has an 82-inch reach. He’s fought 78 rounds since turning pro in 2012 and has beaten the likes of Austin, Eddie Chambers, Jason Gavern, Nagy Aguilera, Sherman Williams and Travis Walker. His draw was a 10-round affair with Amir Mansour in October of 2015.
As you can see, Washington, a former football player and member of the U.S. Navy didn’t turn pro until he was 30 years old. However, he’s beaten some decent opponents up to now, has good size and power, and could surprise a few fans on Saturday night as well as Wilder. This has the potential to be an entertaining fight and there could be a knockdown or two along the way even though Washington isn’t the type of big-name opponent fans are hoping to see Wilder meet. Washington needs to land something hard and heavy before Wilder does to gain some confidence and keep the champion on the back foot. Wilder has shown some fine boxing skills, defence, movement, and chin in the past and may need to do the same here.
Prediction…
Most fans will be surprised if this fight doesn’t end in a knockout and there’s a good chance it will. Both Wilder and Washington are powerful punchers, but up to now they’ve also shown pretty solid chins. Wilder has the better boxing skills though and a bit more power. Washington’s best chance here is to try and land big shots as soon as possible and if he’s successful, just keep on throwing them. The bigger Wilder will likely establish his jab and just wait for the opportunity to throw his power shots. If Washington manages to stand up to them, Wilder will then have to rely on his boxing skills to rack up the points. Anything can happen here as Washington could land one on the button, but the likely scenario is another Wilder win.
This isn’t the big-name matchup fans were hoping for, but Washington could have his moments.
Play: Wilder -1600 @ BetOnline.ag
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Deontay Wilder betting • Gerald Washington betting