Boxing: Deontay Wilder Preps for Eric Molina, Continues to Look Ahead at Wladimir Klitschko

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It rankles Deontay Wilder each time he hears it: “The real heavyweight champion of the world,” minus his name at the end of the sentence. That is because, for now, the WBC heavyweight titlist is not the real heavyweight champion of the world -- and he knows it. That distinction still belongs to Wladimir Klitschko.

Wilder’s modest first step towards changing that perception begins Saturday, when he defends the WBC title for the first time against Eric Molina (23-2, 17 KOs), whose two losses were a pair of first-round knockouts spread five years apart. More than anything else this is a treat for Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs), who will be fighting at the Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala., 60 miles east of his hometown of Tuscaloosa, before a national TV audience on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

This is the first time a world title fight is being held in the state of Alabama, which created a boxing commission to placate Wilder.

“I set forth to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I got one part of it; I’m the WBC heavyweight champion of the world,” Wilder said. “I still got a long way to go, but I’m honored and pleased to have my very first title defense in Alabama. We’re gonna make history by having the first title fight in any division in the state of Alabama.”

Related » Wilder-Molina Full Preview

Wilder will take on an opponent who is in some betting circles a 33-to-1 to 50-to-1 underdog. Nevertheless, Wilder gave the impression that he is taking Molina seriously; however, the one time Molina stepped up in competition and faced Chris Arreola in February 2012, he got starched in 150 seconds. In fairness to Molina, he did tag Arreola pretty well a few minutes into the fight. Arreola left his chin exposed and Molina landed a right that quickly gained his attention. The shot also tricked Molina into thinking he had the veteran in far deeper trouble than he was in. As Molina overextended himself trying for the knockout, Arreola steered the course of the fight in his favor and stopped him at 2:30 of the first round.

Wilder promises not to make the same mistakes Arreola did.

“[Molina] is coming to fight, and that’s what I expect,” Wilder said. “I’m facing one of the most dangerous guys in the division today. I’m super excited. That’s nothing like what I do, my job, and that’s to whip ass.”

However, Wilder could not avoid the inevitable. He could not suppress his bravado when it came to Klitschko. Asked what he thought about most fight fans considering Klitschko, who has all of the major alphabet belts, as “the real” world heavyweight champion, Wilder bristled: “Last time I checked, I have the most prestigious, the most precious, the most beautiful belt in all of boxing -- something that everybody wants.”

That void may hang until sometime early next year.

“It’s not if it’s going to happen but when it’s going to happen [against Klitschko],” Wilder said. “Of course, that’s something I think about, but at this moment in time, I’m not focused on him. He will get his turn. We all see loopholes [that can be exploited against Klitschko]. We all see something that was there or wasn’t there. If anybody says they didn’t, then they’re a liar. When the time times, I’m going to execute those things that I saw; but that’s in the future. If I don’t get past [Molina], we can forget talking about anybody else. This fight is not over yet. Once I get finished with Molina, we can come back and talk about Klitschko.”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.