Fury, who holds the WBO, WBA, and IBO titles, will be on hand to watch in the flesh as Deontay Wilder defends his WBC version against rugged Pole Artur Szplika at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Wilder must keep a firm grip on his green belt before a potential meeting the winner of Charles Martin vs. Vyacheslav Glazkov in the summer, which would mean the American then holds the two titles Fury is missing – if victorious.
The two champions would then be in position for an undisputed clash at the back end of 2016 with all of the recognized championships on the line. The pay-per-view blockbuster could earn tens of millions of dollars and would be the biggest heavyweight clash in over a decade.
A rematch with Wladimir Klitschko has to go the same way as the first fight for Fury to make the bout a reality, but there is no denying that a contest for all the belts is on the right path to be made by 2017 at the latest. Even if Klitschko successfully gains revenge in the spring and takes Fury’s place, an all-title unification with Wilder makes the most sense for both.
In the run-up to his encounter with Szpilka, a focused Wilder was in a confident mood and had added further titles to his haul firmly on his mind.
“I’m mobile and agile. My accuracy and my power are the best out there. Artur Szpilka is in for a world of pain,” said Wilder.
“2016 is my year. I mean what I say. I feel it inside of me. Szpilka says he’s ready, but he’s just trying to promote himself. I really mean what I say.
“2016 is going to be a huge year for Deontay Wilder. The fans are going to be very excited and impressed with what I do this year. I’m not playing around. My goal is to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and whoever has those belts will have to deal with me.
“We’re on a mission. Everything that has happened has been planned. Everything seems to happen at the right time in my career and my life. I was meant to do this. Boxing was my calling in life.”
Phil Jay is the Editor of WBN.
