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Down and out Former WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder and official Curtis Harper have signed contracts for an April 26 fight that will be shown on BLK Prime from Atlanta.
Wilder vs. Harper
Harper, 36, has some pop to his punches, making him a threat to beat “Bronze Bomber” Wilder. A knockout loss to Harper should be seen as the end of Deontay. Losing to this level of fighter would indicate that the Alabama native is not capable of being a major player in the division.
Lance Pugmire reports that Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) and 39-year-old Harper (18-11, 12 KOs) have signed contracts for this fight. It’s a desperate situation for Deontay as he hasn’t won a fight in three years since 2022 and has been defeated in four of his last five fights.
Deontay’s last five fights:
- Zhilei Zhang: TKO 5 losses
- Joseph Parker: Defeat UD 12
- Robert Helenius: KO 1 win
- Tyson Fury: KO 11 loss
- Tyson Fury: TKO 7 loss
Many fans believe that Wilder should retire by now. From 2012 to 2018, he looked like a shadow of the fighter he was at the height of his career.
In the 6’7″ Bronze Bomber’s last bout, he was brutally knocked out in the fifth round by two-time Olympian Zhilei Zhang on June 1, 2024 in Riyadh.
Turki Al-Sheikh he had not given up on Wilder despite dropping his previous fight on one of his Riyadh cards in a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to Joseph Parker on December 23, 2023. Interestingly, Deontay was not included in Turki’s huge February 22. event in Riyadh. Have you given up on him?
Deontay looked shy and afraid to throw punches in his losses to Zhang and Parker. He mostly held back, pretending to throw, but not letting go of his hands. The question is whether that’s because of his coach, Malik Scott, or his age. It could also be that Wilder’s two knockout losses to Tyson Fury made him a gunslinger, afraid to throw for fear of being countered. That’s how Fury beat him.
Harper’s Big Shot
Harper was busy in 2024, winning four fights against obscure second-tier opposition. In 2023, he fought three times, losing to Richard Torrez, Guido Vianello and Damian Knyba. Harper made it to the eighth round against the hard-punching Torrez before being stopped.
If he can land that long against Wilder, he has an excellent chance to beat him because it doesn’t take much to knock out the Bronze Bomber these days. He was stopped twice by the Fury slapper and couldn’t get out of a wet paper bag.
If everything goes wrong for Deontay and he loses, it’s not the end of the world. Yes, it would be destitute in terms of careerbut he would still have his enormous $30 million fortune. That’s reason enough for me to be happy. He has gotten a lot out of his career with his meager skills and only the right bazooka.
