Deontay Wilder will have a keen eye on the purse bid situation between unified heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, and mandatory challenger, Daniel Dubois.
The American is number two with the WBA, and it has been confirmed that he will be offered the shot at Usyk should Dubois’ side pull out of the purse bid set for May 25.
Ordinarily, pulling out of a purse bid for a world title shot wouldn’t be much of a consideration, and the 25-year-old’s promoter has said that they are up for the fight.
However, a disruption in Dubois’ camp in the form of a split from trainer, Shane McGuigan, and a link-up with Don Charles may just see the young heavyweight keen to take his time.
That puts Wilder in the picture in a very real way, and his manager, Shelly Finkel, told Sky Sports that they would ‘of course’ be interested in the Usyk fight.
“If Deontay was offered the fight against Oleksandr Usyk, of course we would be interested.”
Wilder was bumped up the WBA’s rankings somewhat surprisingly in April, having not been in the ring since October – a first round knockout of Robert Helenius.
All of the talk of his future in the division have been centred around a fight with Anthony Joshua at the end of the year in Saudi Arabia.
Negotiations are reportedly going well for the transatlantic tear-up, and reps from the nation have been open in their desire for that fight specifically.
How things might be affected should Wilder get the Usyk call remain to be seen, but not many heavyweights would turn down a shot at three of the four major belts in a hurry.