Deontay Wilder won't treat Jason Gavern as a tune-up bout

Or so he says anyway. While pretty much everyone is expecting a short night for Wilder, he himself says that in the heavyweight division, everyone is a threat.

"This is boxing and this is the heavyweight division, so you can't take anyone lightly. I'm not treating this like a warm-up," said Wilder, 28, who is coming off a 96-second knockout of Malik Scott in a WBC title eliminator bout in March. "My main focus is fighting for a title but I'm not looking past my opponent on August 16."

I'm not knocking the man for saying all the right things, but lets be completely honest, the most astute comment he's made since this fight has been announced was that he'd be a laughing stock if he were to lose this tussle. Since he fancies himself a legitimate threat to take over the heavyweight throne, a loss to Gavern at this point would be quite the embarrassment. Nonetheless, he says he's focused for all the right reasons.

"I need to go into the ring and take care of my opponent on August 16. I have to fight to win and succeed in order to provide for my family."

"Everything has been going as planned. This has probably been one of the shortest training camps I've had. That thrills me though. A lot of fighters claim to be athletes but on the night of the fight, I'll show exactly how athletic and ready I am," said Wilder.

"I've been missing the ring and I'm ready to get back...I'm good to go. I'm always in shape. I'm always in the gym. I treat boxing like my nine to five. Others may not take it seriously but this is a sport where you can get hurt if you don't protect yourself and take it seriously. So I'm always tuned up and ready to go for my fans."

Once we get this one out of the way, we can finally see where Wilder really stands in the heavyweight picture when he takes on a true threat in Bermane Stiverne.