WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman likes the idea of Deontay Wilder facing Dillian Whyte, a fight which could make things clearer for who champion Tyson Fury should defend against after his two clashes with Anthony Joshua.
Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) is currently the interim WBC heavyweight champion following his fourth-round knockout win over Alexander Povetkin in their rematch on March 27th in Gibraltar.
For his part, Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) is ranked #1 with the World Boxing Council, and he’s insisting on being given his contractually bound rematch with Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), which isn’t happening right now. A mediator is expected to decide the case sometime in May.
It’s unknown how that will end. It could result in Wilder losing out on the rematch because the extract time limits have expired. But there is one way for Wilder to get back in position to fight for his old WBC title, and that’s by taking on Whyte for his interim WBC belt, as well as having the mandatory position at stake.
It’ll be a little bit of extra work for Wilder, but if he can beat Whyte, there won’t be anything Fury or Joshua can say to deny him. They’ll either have to face him or vacate the WBC title.
Wilder lost his WBC title to Fury in February 2020 in an embarrassing seventh-round knockout loss. With that kind of a defeat, the only way Wilder can rightfully come back from it is for him to beat a dangerous contender like Whyte. That’s if the mediation doesn’t go in Wilder’s favor.
“I believe that a potential fight with Wilder would be tremendous,” said WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to Pro Boxing Fans. “Dillian Whyte vs. Deontay Wilder is a tremendous fight.
“As you know, the WBC has been waiting and cooperating with everything regarding the heavyweight division.
“There was an issue with Wilder and Fury third fight. I don’t know the status of that matter legally, and a long-awaited supposed Tyson Fury- Joshua fight,” said Sulaiman.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has attempted to set up a fight between Whyte and Wilder, but with no luck. Wilder has been steadfast in his disinterest in fighting Dillian, partly because he felt that he was being used as a castle guard to protect Hearn’s prize gem, Joshua, from him.
Now that Wilder has lost his WBC title, he may not have a choice whether to fight Whyte or not. If Wilder wants a quick title shot against the winner of the two Joshua vs. Fury fights, beating Whyte will achieve his goal quicker.
Recently, Whyte has shown Wilder no respect in the media, calling him a “coward’ during interviews, giving the impression that he’s afraid to fight him. It looks bad that Wilder hasn’t responded to Dillian and agreed to take him on, and you can argue it may be costing him fans.
There was talk of Wilder returning to the ring to fight former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin, but nothing has come of that. It’s now unknown if Wilder has changed his mind about fighting the 6’5″ Martin, but it might not be worth it.
Clearly, Wilder’s quickest path to gain a title shot against the Fury vs. Joshua winner would be to take on Whyte, beat him, and force the fight.