Wilder recently announced his intentions to campaign at 200 pounds AND the heavyweight division after an undisputed clash with fellow top division champion Anthony Joshua.
As the Joshua fight is on the verge of being put on the shelf due to an agreement with Alexander Povetkin for September, Wilder may now turn his attention to whoever comes out on top between Aleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev at the lower weight.
Speaking via his Instagram last week, Wilder had said: “What’s up boxing world. You know I’ve just been sitting in my car thinking. I’ve been thinking about, once I unify the heavyweight division, moving down to the cruiserweight and taking over that division.
“There’s never been a heavyweight ever go down in weight. I mean just for the fun of it. Just take over the cruiserweight division while maintaining the heavyweight division,” he added.
This means Wilder could drop down a division to battle Usyk or Gassiev. This is due to the fact the winner of the WBSS competition will walk away with four versions of the world championship.
In a nutshell, Wilder would be able to attempt to become undisputed at cruiserweight BEFORE facing Joshua in 2018.
USYK
As WBC champion, Wilder would have no problem being sanctioned to challenge Usyk (the current WBC title-holder) or Gassiev. Whilst withholding his current status should the Russian come out on top once the WBSS showpiece is confirmed.
Joshua is likely to be out of action until the late spring or summer of 2019 after the Povetkin clash. Giving Wilder ample time to face Usyk or Gassiev and then move back up in weight.
A mandatory with Dominic Breazeale would have to be addressed first. But there’s then no reason why Wilder couldn’t attempt to be the ‘one face, one name’ of the cruiserweight division until Joshua agrees to fight him in the future.
