Deontay Wilder is closing in on heavyweight glory once again, with a path beginning to emerge as too how he might get there.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ held the WBC belt for half a decade before being stopped by Tyson Fury. A second defeat – the third time in the ring with Fury following a draw in their first bout – saw Wilder out of the ring for a year, seemingly toying with the idea of retirement.
He decided against it, and returned to knock Finland’s Robert Helenius out in one round with just his third punch landed.
That was in October and, in April of this year, Wilder was inexplicably moved up to number one in the WBA rankings, leap frogging Martin Bakole and being slotted in just behind regular champion and mandatory challenger, Daniel Dubois.
Whilst all the recent talk for the American knockout artist has been centred on a belt-less but intriguing fight with Anthony Joshua this December, Dan Rafael has reported that should Dubois choose not to or be unable to participate in the upcoming purse bid to face Usyk, Wilder will take his place as mandatory.
WBA told me that if Dubois is not available due to his knee injury or any other reason, Usyk's will be ordered to face the next contender in the rankings, which is Deontay Wilder. https://t.co/svdty1Jvdf
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) May 15, 2023
The process is set for May 25 to determine who will promote the Ukrainian’s defence – which will also see the WBO and IBF straps on the line.
Ordinarily, there wouldn’t be speculation as to a fighter pulling out of a world title shot, but the order from the WBA comes amidst increasing reports of Dubois splitting with his trainer, Shane McGuigan. Should that be confirmed, it’s not out of the questions that a new trainer might advise the 25-year-old to take a learning fight before the title shot.
Could a shot at the unified titles be enough to tempt Wilder away from the ‘AJ’ fight, which is likely to be a career-high purse by some margin?
The developments are yet more complications in an already stalled division.