Deontay Wilder vs. Curtis Harper on BLK Prime Card on April 26

Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and journeyman Curtis Harper have reportedly signed contracts for an April 26 fight that will air on BLK Prime from Atlanta.

Wilder vs. Harper

Harper, 36, has some pop to his punches, making him a threat to beat the shy, bearded ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder. A knockout loss to Harper should be seen as the end for Deontay. Losing to this level of fighter would be a sign 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), 39, and 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.

Many fans feel 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 towering 6’7″ Bronze Bomber’s last fight, he was brutally knocked out in the fifth round by two-time Olympian Zhilei Zhang on June 1, 2024, in Riyadh.

Turki Al Sheikh had not given up on Wilder despite failing in his previous fight on one of his Riyadh scorecards in a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to Joseph Parker on December 23, 2023. Curiously, Deontay was not included in the massive Turki fight on February 22. event in Riyadh. Have you given up on him?

Deontay seemed timid and afraid to throw punches in his losses to Zhang and Parker. He mostly held back, posing as if he were going to throw but not letting go of his hands. The question is whether that is due to his coach, Malik Scott, or his age. It could also be that Wilder’s two knockout losses to Tyson Fury made him timid, afraid to throw for fear of being countered. This is how Fury defeated him.

Harper’s Big Shot

Harper was busy in 2024, winning four fights against obscure second-tier opponents. In 2023, he fought three times, losing to Richard Torrez, Guido Vianello and Damian Knyba. Harper made it to the eighth round against hard-hitting Torrez before being stopped.

If he can land that long against Wilder, he has an excellent chance of beating him because nowadays it doesn’t take much to knock out the Bronze Bomber. He was stopped twice by slapper Fury and couldn’t get out of a wet paper bag.