Promoter Lou Dibella thinks Polish underdog Artur Szpilka (20-1, 15 KOs) will let it all hang out in his title challenge next month against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) in their fight on January 16th on Showtime at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Dibella believes that Szpilka will go after the 6’7” Wilder in the same way that Polish cruiserweight Krzysztof] Glowacki tore into long-time WBO cruiserweight Marco Huck to score an 11th round knockout last August to win the WBO title. Glowacki and Huck both hit the deck in that fight in one of the most exciting contests of the year thus far.
“I think this could be like what you saw earlier this year, when [Polish cruiserweight contender Krzysztof] Glowacki stepped up to challenge [long-reigning titleholder] Marco Huck,” DiBella said. “There’s never been a Polish heavyweight champion of the world, so whatever limitations Szpilka has, he is fighting for history. That’s a strong motivator,” DiBella said.
Szpilka is a bigger underdog than Glowacki was against Huck though, as he’s facing a much taller, stronger, faster and more athletic fighter in Deontay. With Glowacki, he came into the fight with Huck with a lot of advantages over him. It’s a different story with the Wilder-Szpilka fight. Instead of Szpilka coming into the fight all the advantages, it’s Deontay who will have virtually every advantage you can think of.
Szpilka would do well to go after Deontay from the first bell and look to KO him immediately, because the longer this fight goes the more likely that Szpilka is going to end up on the canvas knocked out. You have to remember that Szpilka was knocked out by the light hitting Bryant Jennings last year in a 10th round stoppage. Jennings is a good fighter, to be sure, but I think it’s safe to say that Wilder would make easy work of him if the two of them were to ever face each other in the future.
“Glowacki walked in as a big underdog against Huck, and look what happened: He pulled the upset in a great fight,” Dibella said. “I’m not saying the same thing will happen, but I think you’ll see this guy [Szpilka] throw down and go for it. As a promoter, you want a fight that’s promotable, and this is one that is. Style-wise, this is a whole lot better than Glazkov would have been for the fans.”
Dibella is going to need to do a lot more talking up of the smallish Szpilka in order to build the Wilder-Szpilka up to where boxing fans see it as a competitive fight, because right now they’re seeing Szpilka as the sacrificial lamb.
