Newly crowned heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder expects to stay on the schedule he and his team have in mind despite injuring his right hand during his title victory against Bermane Stiverne.
Wilder won a lopsided decision to take the belt from Stiverne on Jan. 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but he injured his right hand -- his most destructive weapon -- in the fourth or fifth round.
After returning home to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, last week, Wilder had X-rays on the hand and later visited a hand specialist in Birmingham. Wilder was diagnosed with a stress fracture in the hand, co-manager and co-trainer Jay Deas told ESPN.com on Thursday.
“It was the exact same injury that Deontay had after the Travis Allen fight [in 2009],” Deas said. “It is in the exact same spot. He had it surgically repaired back then. When the doctor looked at his hand last week he said everything was still in place, the pins, from last time. So Deontay doesn’t need surgery this time.
“They said for him to lay off it for four weeks. Then he will be re-examined to see if he needs a few more weeks off or he can begin training. He will start hand therapy next week. They want the swelling to go down a little more before he starts.”
Wilder had two pins inserted into his right hand during the surgery in 2009. Deas said because the recent injury is not serious Wilder’s planned return remains on target.
“There’s no change to the schedule. Everything looks like it points toward summer, probably June,” Deas said. “We don’t know who Deontay will fight, but June is the aim. We want to be active. In a perfect world we’d like to be back in June, then again in September and then one more before the end of the year. We want to be different. Deontay does not want to sit on the shelf. He’s hungry to fight.”
Wilder’s anticipated June defense could be televised on Showtime, which aired the Stiverne bout, or even possibly CBS, Showtime’s sister network.
Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs), 29, enjoyed a hero’s welcome home to Tuscaloosa following his victory. There was a parade in his honor attended by thousands following by a ceremony.
“It was a big deal and we all had a lot of fun with it,” Deas said.