Deontay Wilder could lose his next fight and another shot at the sport’s biggest prize but still walk away as a three-weight world champion before retirement.
Wilder goes into his trilogy battle with Tyson Fury this month, knowing a defeat will probably signal the end of his heavyweight career.
At the age of 35, Wilder cannot afford another devastating loss against Fury. If he does subside similarly, “The Bronze Bomber” will be kissing goodbye to any world title chances in the top division over the next couple of years.
Mandatories for both Fury and unified champion Anthony Joshua, who also want to fight each other, would fully dictate this delay.
So what would a loss mean for Deontay Wilder?
Well, if he wants to continue his career, Wilder would have to seriously look at the new bridgerweight weight class alongside his cruiserweight ambitions.
Before the formation of the new division, Wilder had already expressed an interest in fighting at cruiserweight. Therefore, the longtime heavyweight world champion has two options to chase a sec0nd-weight world title shot.
DEONTAY WILDER COMPETITOR
Despite previously dismissing the notion of bridgerweight, the new 224-pound WBC anomaly, Wilder is a keen competitor. He would certainly not pass up a shot if offered by Mauricio Sulaiman after another defeat Fury.
WBC chiefs are yet to confirm who will be the first two competitors to fight it out for the vacant 200-224 lbs strap. If Wilder is available over the next couple of months, who knows?
Wilder is likely to drop the excess weight he put on for the rematch. This measure amounts to a total of ten pounds. In reality, he should scale around 220 pounds for Fury this time.
More than likely, though, Wilder would have some time away if all goes awry again. But he certainly could get down to 200 pounds if he pushed himself hard enough.
At the very least, Wilder has the chance to become a two-weight champion in the bridgerweight stipulation.
But talk that his career is over on July 25th is far from the reality of what can get achieved.
Write the hardest puncher since Mike Tyson off at your peril.
Fury vs. Wilder III is live on Saturday, July 24, on pay-per-view from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
