World Boxing News has covered a lot on the potential paths for Deontay Wilder to go down following his second loss to Tyson Fury last month.
From a money-spinning Pay Per View of former heavyweight champions against Andy Ruiz Jr. to a clash with Dillian Whyte, there are clear paths to a title challenge for Wilder.
WBN has covered the story before when breaking it back in early 2020. That Premier Boxing Champions head Al Haymon had earmarked the Wilder vs. Ruiz Jr. clash since signing the latter just over two years ago.
Ruiz got surprisingly thrust into a battle with Anthony Joshua late on. It followed the withdrawal of Jarrell Miller. We all know how that went.
After dropping his clutch of titles to Joshua in the Saudi rematch when completely unprepared, Ruiz is on the comeback trail – as is Wilder.
The timing could be perfect for both in 2022.
If not Ruiz immediately, both could have a warm-up fight before colliding in a super-heavyweight clash of titans at the back end of 2022.
As WBN also explained before, Wilder also has a World Boxing Council redemption in the pipeline. But that all depends on old foe Fury retiring.
If “The Gypsy King” walks away for good in a blaze of glory, Wilder will almost certainly get chosen by the WBC to face interim ruler Whyte for the vacant green on gold belt Fury would then vacate.
There’s also the not-so-small matter of a possible fight with the winner of Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk. If pre-fight favorite Usyk wins again, he could favor a battle with Wilder over Joe Joyce or Daniel Dubois if he could lobby and get granted an exemption from either Brit, both of whom are top-ranked contenders, until after a voluntary.
DEONTAY WILDER WEIGHT
Three heavyweight paths are open. Two have titles at the end of the rainbow. But what about other weights?
Again, Wilder has mentioned moving down, and WBN has confirmed a two-weight titleholder move is entirely possible. If Wilder runs out of options, why not head down to 225 pounds – well within his reach [he weight 231 for Fury II and 238 for Fury III] – to battle Oscar Rivas for the newly-formed WBC bridgerweight belt.
As the number one contender with the WBC at heavyweight, Wilder would be looked favorably upon by President Mauricio Sulaiman to be the Colombian’s next challenger.
That’s now four potential routes for Wilder within twelve months, three of which have a bonafide championship opportunity.
Therefore, The Resurrection of Deontay Wilder could come sooner than you think.
