Deontay Wilder’s trainer, Malik Scott, believes Tyson Fury should be stripped of his famous green and gold WBC world heavyweight title and that Wilder and Andy Ruiz Jr should be allowed to battle it out for the vacant belt.
Speaking to Scott, ES NEWS pointed out that Tyson Fury may have an exhibition bout with UFC fighter Francis Ngannou lined up next and wondered aloud why he was permitted to have a voluntary defence against Derek Chisora last year.
This led to Wilder’s trainer being asked if he thinks ‘The Gypsy King’ should be ‘stripped.’
“Yeah man, let Deontay and Ruiz fight for the WBC [belt] man. Let’s do something that makes actual sense, that helps the sport. All this f***ing waiting around, so now we’ve got to wait for Fury and Ngannou to fight. Another year. All this sh*t just holds up the heavyweight division, man.”
Talk then turned to Wilder’s ongoing negotiations with Ruiz Jr after being ordered last year by the WBC to fight. The winner would be mandatory challenger for Fury.
Despite his comments about the two former champions battling it out for the belt, Scott believes the fight is unlikely to happen.
“No, [team Ruiz] hasn’t signed the contract. They’re refusing offers, they’re out-pricing themselves. That’s them saying they don’t want the fight.
Team Wilder going to move on to bigger and better things anyway, to look for the biggest fight possible for Deontay, and we know what we have set up for December, but before that I want Deontay to fight again.”
What seems to be certain is that, whoever Wilder fights next, he will be facing off against Anthony Joshua in December out in Saudi Arabia. That won’t be for a title, but a huge event nonetheless.
As for Fury, his next move – although rumoured to be Ngannou – hasn’t been announced. Should he remain undefeated in what he does, he’s expected to face Oleksandr Usyk next year for undisputed.