Tony Bellew seems confident that Deontay Wilder will be in for a rude awakening when he fights Jai Opetaia on 11 December.
Before Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua headline at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Wilder and Opetaia will clash in the chief-support bout, as the latter debuts at heavyweight.
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The former cruiserweight champion will be facing arguably the hardest puncher of his generation in Wilder, a former heavyweight champion, yet Bellew has echoed the sentiment that Wilder is a faded force.
“At this stage, I’m telling you now, the guy I saw in that ring with Derek [Chisora]… Yeah, it’s not the same,” Bellew said on Fight Your Corner, in partnership with Midnite.
“He’s going to get baptised. He’s had it. He’s in a lot of trouble. Like, Deontay is in a world of trouble. Like, that is a really bad fight. It’s a bad fight.”
Bellew, a former world champion himself, was referencing Wilder’s points victory over Chisora in April, when the American, 41, won a slugfest in London.
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“Don’t get me wrong,” Bellew continued. “Could he just land a freaky right hand on the way in? Possibly.
“[But] when he was fighting Derek, he was stumbling around the ring. That weren’t Deontay Wilder. And by the way, that weren’t Derek Chisora either.”
Chisora is 42 but has remained a tough challenge for many heavyweights in recent years, yet Wilder was able to drop him twice en route to victory.
Still, Wilder has long looked a lesser fighter than the powerhouse who reigned as WBC champion for five years.
Wilder was 40-0 with 39 KOs when he fought Fury in 2018, and many fans felt the American was lucky to emerge from that bout with a draw. Nevertheless, Fury stopped Wilder in back-to-back fights in 2020 and 2021, ending the “Bronze Bomber”‘s unbeaten run.
Since then, Wilder has gone 3-2, losing to Joseph Parker on points in 2023 and Zhilei Zhang by KO in 2024. His wins came against Chisora on points, and Tyrrell Anthony Herndon and Robert Helenius via KO.
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Meanwhile, Opetaia will enter his heavyweight debut with an unbeaten record of 31-0 (24 KOs), having recently reigned as IBF cruiserweight champion.
The Australian southpaw, 31, was stripped of his title after signing with the controversial Zuffa Boxing this year, and although a dream fight with David Benavidez is eluding fans, Opetaia at heavyweight is an intriguing prospect.
Fury told Fight Hype of Wilder last week: “It’s silly really, for Deontay’s part. He should not be in the ring. It’s a dying shame that this man has to continue to fight when he’s shot to bits.
“He should never have fought again after I beat him the last time. That should have been the end of it. But, needs must… If you are getting knocked out by people you should have knocked out yourself…
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“Him and Chisora were shockingly terrible when they fought. Chisora is like 145 years old, and he was taking Wilder’s knockout power shots that are not there anymore. It is a shame, because if you want to match them five years ago, it would not have lasted one round.
“It is a hard thing to walk away from. We have seen so many of the greats come back, for whatever reason, over the years – usually financial reasons. It’s a sad state.”
Fury climbed off the canvas twice in his draw with Wilder, and he had to do the same in their trilogy fight, but he beat the American handily in their middle contest.
When the Briton, 38, and compatriot Joshua, 37, square off in Cardiff, they will make up arguably the biggest British fight of all time.
