Deontay Wilder issued a warning to Oleksandr Usyk over the weekend, saying his team will be in touch to try schedule a meeting for 2023.
Speaking at the press conference after his one round demolition of Robert Helenius at the Barclays centre, Wilder was quick to reassure journalists that Usyk, who called Wilder out only a few weeks ago, was very much on the American’s hit list.
“I’ll be very surprised if he [Usyk] sticks to his word. I’m a man of my word and I abide by my principles.”
“We’ll see what happens but I’ll keep Usyk to his word. We will be calling his team and speaking to whoever his handler is and we’ll see what’s up.”
“If he’s a man of his word, then what a hell of a fight it would be.”
Discussion about a fight between Usyk and Wilder has been rife amongst fans online since Wilder’s win at the weekend, with the boxing public seemingly split between whether it would be Usyk’s unrivalled skills or Wilder’s chilling power that would prove the deciding factor.
However, it seems more likely that Wilder will face PBC stablemate Andy Ruiz Jr next year as opposed to Usyk, with talks for a final eliminator between the two for the WBC title supposedly underway.
That means, if the fight gets made and Wilder came through Ruiz, fans could be looking at a FOURTH fight between ‘The Bronze Bomber’ and long-time foe Tyson Fury, the current custodian of the WBC belt.