Despite being ordered to face one another by the WBC, Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz Jr have failed to come to terms to do so.
The sanctioning body called for a fight between their number one and number two challengers back in November 2022 as a final eliminator for a shot at Tyson Fury’s title, and the fact that both men fall under the PBC stable should have made negotiations a whole lot easier.
It didn’t, and whilst Ruiz has been calling for the fight – or any fight – it seems Wilder has been shopping around.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger has now reported that Wilder is now fielding ‘all sorts of different offers’ from promoters because the money for the Ruiz fight isn’t satisfactory at this stage. Coppinger finished his report by saying there was a lot of frustration between fighter and promotional company – in this case, PBC.
Although the Ruiz fight was officially ordered by the WBC and would give Wilder – or Ruiz depending on the outcome – a clear path to title glory once more, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ has always been relatively cold on the idea.
His trainer Malik Scott has constantly talked up other, ‘bigger’ fights that he would like to take, and it appears that Wilder agrees. It’s unclear what terms he’s currently under with PBC and whether or not a fight outside of their banner could be easily done.
It will come as a disappointment to fans who regarded Wilder-Ruiz as one of the most intriguing match ups in the division, especially considering the belts are tied up for the foreseeable in undisputed talks between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Wilder was last out in October of 2022, although not for long. He knocked out Robert Helenius in the first round. Ruiz beat Luis Ortiz via unanimous decision the month before.