WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder didn't fight as much as he would have liked to in 2016, but he made his two matches count when he stepped into the ring. 

The Tuscaloosa native retained the WBC belt twice this year - once in January and again in July - before injuring his hand and bicep in a win over Chris Arreola. His lone knockout this year came against Polish challenger Artur Szpilka in Brooklyn. Wilder landed his power right hand square to the challenger's face and dropped him instantly.

Here's the replay of that power punch.

That fight earned Wilder the Knockout of the Year award from the World Boxing Council, and the Bronze Bomber shared a picture of the award on Twitter Tuesday.

Wilder severely injured his right hand and bicep early in the fight with Arreola but continued boxing - primarily with his left hand - and forced his opponent to retire in the 8th round.

Since that time, there hasn't been a lot of news surrounding Wilder and his rehabilitation process, but trainer Jay Deas joined The Suttles Approach on Tuesday to provide an update.

"He's cleared," Deas said. "The bicep takes longer than the hand, which is great news because it will force him to rest the hand more than it ever has rested in the past several years. So that's great news that the hand is perfectly well while the bicep got better. And now the bicep has been cleared so he's cleared to throw both hands in training, and that's what we've been doing."

There's no timeline on the next fight, but Deas said they have already started working towards that return. He thinks the target date could be sometime in February, but it all depends on the logistics getting worked out along the way.

The full conversation between Deas and host Aaron Suttles can be heard below.

 

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