Deontay Wilder’s next fight is shaping up to be the grandest exit imaginable – but it very nearly went a completely different way. Before talk emerged of Oleksandr Usyk eyeing ‘The Bronze Bomber’ for his farewell bout, Wilder was lined up to face a British heavyweight in Istanbul this summer.
According to reports, Usyk is now targeting Wilder for a ‘Last Dance’ in December or early 2027. Before that talk surfaced, Wilder’s name was in the frame for a late-August clash with Johnny Fisher. Wilder had returned to the UK in April for the first time in 13 years, a comeback being watched closely across Britain’s shifting heavyweight landscape.
Fisher, speaking to About Boxing as reported by Boxing News Online, revealed just how close the fight came.
There was talks, a couple of weeks before my contract was up, Eddie FaceTimed me with Turki Alalshikh and he said, ‘Wilder, Istanbul, end of August?’, so I was like ‘yeah, no problem’.
Deontay Wilder’s next fight options
That bout fell away through what Fisher called the “politics of boxing”, and he now debuts for Zuffa Boxing at London’s Copper Box Arena on September 26. It clears the path for the showdown many expect: Usyk against Wilder, with a legend’s career on the line.
