---
title: "Deontay Wilder Offered American Heavyweight As Andy Ruiz Fight Falters"
canonical: "https://boxing-social.com/news/deontay-wilder-offered-american-heayweight/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Kerr Ferguson"
section: "News"
published: "2023-07-24T11:14:44Z"
modified: "2023-07-24T11:14:44Z"
---

# Deontay Wilder Offered American Heavyweight As Andy Ruiz Fight Falters

Deontay Wilder is closing in on one year out of the ring – not ideal when he is angling for a fight with fellow former champion, Anthony Joshua, towards the end of the year.

The hard-hitting American heavyweight, who held the WBC belt for almost half a decade before he lost it to Tyson Fury, was last out against Robert Helenius in October of 2022.

It was short-lived, with Wilder producing the sort of knockout he’s known for before the end of the first.

Following that fight, the 37-year-old was ordered by the sanctioning body to face Andy Ruiz Jr in a final eliminator. A win for Wilder would guarantee him a shot at the belt he once held.

Not much happened around the fight for some time, and [even the recent talks have seems frustrated and unlikely.](https://wp.boxing-social.com/news/andy-ruiz-bizarre-threat-to-wilder/)

[It’s well known that Wilder is in talks to face Joshua in either December or early 2024](https://wp.boxing-social.com/news/anthony-joshua-deontay-wilder-teams-meet/), presuming the Brit comes through his rematch with Dillian Whyte on August 12.

The American isn’t keen to sit on the sidelines and wait, but has struggled – much like Fury did recently – to find an opponent.

Former fighter turner promoter, Dmitry Salita, aims to change that, and has offered his charge, Jermaine Franklin, to ‘The Bronze Bomber.’

Speaking to [Seconds Out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLLij25nL1c&t=513s), Salita said they were exploring the fight.

> “We’re exploring a few different possibilities. I believe that a fight with \[Franklin\] and Deontay Wilder makes a lot of sense, because he’s fought all the top guys and is world class. I don’t know what Deontay Wilder has left after those three very difficult fights with Tyson Fury.
>
> It’s something that we’re interested in exploring. From what I understand, one day the fight with Andy Ruiz is on, the other it’s off. So it’s a very fluid situation.”

The promoter also floated the idea of a fight with Ruiz, Joseph Parker or a rematch with Dillian Whyte.

Despite losing two of his last three, [Franklin has impressed by taking both Whyte and Joshua the distance](https://www.dazn.com/en-GB/news/boxing/dillian-whyte-vs-jermaine-franklin-live-updates-results-highlights/1709x1xq9ifeh11wowdfxrukgg). He got back to winning ways recently in his hometown of Detroit by beating Isaac Munoz Gutierrez over the distance.