Deontay Wilder gambled a WBC final eliminator on landing a massive fight with one of his major rivals in Saudi Arabia. The plan looks to have backfired.
All three of his top three heavyweight targets are since locked in talks with other fighters. Wilder’s decision not to engage with Andy Ruiz Jr. could come back to haunt him.
The news comes as “The Bronze Bomber” approaches eight months out of action again, a running theme in the latter part of his career.
Despite the World Boxing Council informing Wilder that his planned fight with Ruiz would be for a shot at his old belt, the American puncher sought a clash elsewhere.
Deontay Wilder’s targets get tied up
Firstly, he eyed a fourth battle with Tyson Fury when the pair met in the Middle East. When Fury kept him dangling on a string, Wilder turned to Oleksandr Usyk and, eventually, Anthony Joshua.
But Usyk and Joshua are since engaged in their own talks. Usyk will defend his titles against Daniel Dubois on the order of the WBA. A recent purse bid of $8 million by his promoters at K2 was enough to secure promotional arrangements for the mandatory bout.
Alexander Krassyuk proposes to stage the event in a stadium in Poland this August. That puts Usyk off the table until at least December, possibly early 2024, if he suffers an injury.
Meanwhile, Joshua has received an offer from Tyson Fury to fight at Wembley in September. That puts both out of the reach of Wilder.
George Warren, son of Frank and one of those at the helm of Queensberry Promotions, confirmed Fury’s intentions over the weekend.
“Long story short. I spoke with Tyson on Monday. Obviously, on the back of knowing by then, the Usyk bout wouldn’t be happening. And we were preparing a bid,” Warren told BT Sport.
“Questions were put to us. What are the biggest fights possible that we can make? AJ’s name came up in that conversation.
“It’s a huge fight. The instructions were quite clear. So, the following morning put an email over to Eddie and made an offer.”
Fury vs Wilder IV
There are no guarantees that Joshua will accept, having already promised Dillian Whyte a rematch. AJ also wants to avoid another loss for the time being.
This could leave Fury and Wilder without any other option but to face each other for a fourth time. At present, this looks like the most likely scenario by default.
Considering their last encounter was the 2021 Fight of the Year, Fury could do much worse than agree to another barnstormer with his old nemesis.
Everything relies on Fury giving the nod, though. If he doesn’t choose Wilder, UK fans can probably look forward to another one-sided win at a football ground over the summer.
If Fury decides against Wilder IV, Ruiz Jr. would have to come back into play despite the recent revelations in his private life.
Follow experienced boxing writer Phil Jay on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
