Above all else, Deontay Wilder says he’s just glad rival heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are finally set to fight. For all the marbles. For all four heavyweight titles. The main reason Wilder is pleased? Because, as the former WBC heavyweight champ said when speaking with Instant Casino, it will make it easier for him to become undisputed heavyweight champ down the road.
Wilder, who must defeat live underdog Joseph Parker on the stacked December 23 card in Saudi Arabia, said recently that he aims to “wipe out” the current heavyweight division and become undisputed champ before he walks away from the sport. There is as we know, talk of Wilder fighting Anthony Joshua next year, in what would be a massive final eliminator for the WBC belt that Wilder once held, that is now the property of Fury, and could be strapped around Usyk’s waist after February of next year.
And Wilder is confident he will hold all the silver-wear come 2024.
“It’s a 50-50 fight, anything can happen,” Wilder said of the Fury-Usyk fight. “People look at Fury’s size as a major advantage but that doesn’t necessarily mean nothing because Usyk can stay low to the ground and because Fury’s so tall it’s going to be difficult to reach down. If Usyk can get in and out real fast, I feel speed could be a major factor. For me it’s 50-50 and I’m glad it’s finally happening so we get all the belts in one place. That’s going to make it easier for me to fight for the unification of those belts, so I won’t have to fight different champions and have champions running away because of what he’s seen me do to the last opponent.”
Wilder says he could have unified the heavyweight division “four different times” in his career, but for the fact that “certain fighters would not fight me and put their titles on the line.” You can take from that statement what you want, but Wilder, the ultimate gunslinger, is still looking to become undisputed champ.
If he were to pull it off, Wilder would, at age 38, become the oldest man to unify the heavyweight belts. Wilder fully believes he will take out Parker in December, then Joshua some time next year, and that he will then defeat the eventual Fury-Usyk winner. Sure, it sounds like a grand plan, but can Wilder do it? Heck, will he even get the opportunity?
In terms of if Wilder does get as far as challenging either Fury or Usyk for all the glory, we know what has happened the three times Wilder fought Fury. But a Wilder challenge of Usyk could be a fight with an entirely different outcome.
For now, Wilder, like the rest of us, is waiting to see what happens when Fury and Usyk get it on. But Wilder remains full of ambition, and he wants the winner.
What price Wilder defeats Parker, then Joshua, then the Fury-Usyk winner??