WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder is set to make his 4th defense of his belt when he faces former title challenger Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola. The fight will take place in Birmingham, Alabama, and it be the third time Wilder has defended his belt in his home state. Deontay hopes to make an impact of Arreola, one that has the 36-4-1 fighter visiting the local hospital.

In my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Deontay Wilder, I discuss his road to having a fight against Chris Arreola and get his views on Arreola as a fighter. Wilder also talks about the change in opponent and gives his thoughts on the October rematch between Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury. Additionally, Wilder breaks down his fight with Arreola and gives his official prediction. Here is what Deontay Wilder had to say.

Jenna J: You will be returning to the ring on July 16th against Chris Arreola. Can you talk about the road you’ve been on and the fight you have?

Deontay Wilder: It’s been a long journey for me. This is as long as I’ve been out of the ring in my career, but they always say that when one door closes, it allows another to open up and that’s what happened for me. It was a short notice fight and there were different circumstances we had to follow as far as rules and who we needed for this short notice fight.

There was a slim list of names that we had that we could have chosen from but we needed a special guy that comes to fight each and every time with his heart and is not going to complain about short notices. That’s the reason we chose Chris Arreola. A lot of guys could have said that they wanted it but at the end of the day, do they really want it or do they just want to get the money? At the end of the day, once they get whooped, they’re going to say, “It was on short notice, I did the best I could.”

We know for a fact that Chris brings fights and he’s never been in a boring fight. He comes to fight and for that reason we chose him. Anybody else that disagrees, they just have to wait and stay in line.

Jenna J: Chris Arreola could not be more different from Alexander Povetkin. How difficult has preparation been with the change?

Deontay Wilder: It wasn’t that difficult due to the fact that both of them are similar in height and their style is different but not too different. We were able to use the regiment of sparring partners that we had for the Povetkin fight. It wasn’t like he was a 6’7 guy, and for that reason it made it a little easier on my behalf.

Even though this was on short notice, my camp would be even shorter than Chris’ because I’m already ready from the last fight. We don’t want to over train, we don’t want to do anything to tire my body out. We definitely planned it smart and we’re doing the right thing to be even more ready for when the time comes.

Jenna J: The heavyweight rematch between Klitschko and Fury has been delayed until October. When that fight does happen, who are you favoring and why?

Deontay Wilder: This fight is going to be a fight of redemption for both guys. For Fury it’s going to be more of a proving fight for him, to prove to people that he won the first time. For Klitschko it’s like, “I didn’t throw my hands, that’s the reason I lost. Now I’m going to show you a different side of Klitschko.”

There’s a question mark on that fight, what would have happened if Klitschko had thrown punches? What would have happened if he had throw punches in his fights before hand, like when he fought Alexander Povetkin and he was throwing combinations. It’s going to be an interesting fight and that’s why I can’t really pick sides because we don’t know.

We saw Tyson Fury get knocked down by the smallest heavyweight, Steve Cunningham. Just imagine a super sized heavyweight punching him. There’s a lot of question marks for me, this will be the tell-all fight for me. Hopefully Klitschko comes and does what he wants to do, let his hands go. If he doesn’t do that, then it will be the same result as last time, Fury wins dancing around and throwing less punches than he needs to.

Jenna J: Deontay, when it comes to your fight this upcoming weekend, how do you expect it to play out from the opening bell to the finish?

Deontay Wilder: I want to hurt him, put him in the hospital. They got a hospital called UAV that’s right down the street from the arena, I want him to visit that as well. Ever since I’ve been champion there’s only been one guy that hasn’t seen the hospital, and that was Eric Molina. I want to keep that going.

I want these guys to experience a fight with Deontay Wilder. I want them to be the messengers to go back and tell other fighters, “He is business and he is the truth, no matter what they say.” I’m looking for a knockout, I need to keep the knockout spree going. I think it’s going to be a great fight, I know Chris is going to come to fight with his heart.

I think this is his third or fourth chance at the title, which is awesome. Sometimes when you look back, it seems like the more you lose, the more opportunities you get, which is kind of weird but he’s blessed because some guys don’t get the opportunity ever. Hopefully he takes full advantage and realizes what this really means. I know he’s going to bring the best of him and I’m going to bring the best of me. It’s going to be a great fight in Birmingham, Alabama.