Deontay Wilder Is Talking Usyk, but Gassiev Looks More Real

Deontay Wilder is back saying names again. Big ones. Title ones. It sounds familiar. It should. This is how heavyweights stay relevant when clarity is missing.

He’s in Dubai, ringside, congratulating Murat Gassiev after a sharp stoppage of Kubrat Pulev, while letting it slip that conversations about Oleksandr Usyk exist. Not dates. Not paperwork. Conversations. At this level, that distinction is everything.

Why Wilder Mentioning Usyk Actually Matters

What Wilder is really doing here isn’t chasing a belt. It’s buying time. Heavyweights don’t fade quietly. They talk themselves back into relevance until the ring makes the decision for them.

Usyk holds the real WBA belt. No pressure. No mandatory forcing his hand. Wilder isn’t climbing the rankings. He’s circling. At 40, with recent losses still fresh, nothing is being gifted. If Usyk ever takes that fight, it’s because it pays better than a mandatory, not because Wilder earns it in the ring. That should worry Wilder more than anyone else.

Wilder praised Gassiev’s left hook. “Very sneaky.” True. It was. But that shot matters because it came from a fighter who stays compact and throws without drifting. That style compresses space. That’s dangerous for a man who needs room to reset.

The Herndon knockout in June stopped the bleeding. It didn’t answer questions. Before that came four losses in five fights. Fury, Parker, Zhang. Different styles. Same problems. Timing slipping. Distance control fading. When the right hand doesn’t land early, the structure behind it isn’t there anymore.

That matters when talking about elite opponents. Usyk eats predictable setups. He lives on angles. Wilder would need patience and discipline he hasn’t shown in years.

Gassiev Is The Real Test, Not A Stay-Busy

Gassiev is shorter, but he closes ground properly. Tight guard. Forward steps. He doesn’t rush. He waits for mistakes. Against Wilder, that means fewer escapes and more exchanges in the pocket.

And exchanges are where Wilder’s durability, not his power, becomes the question. That’s new territory for him.

Win it and he gets one more round of serious conversations. Lose it and the sport moves on without ceremony. Heavyweights don’t get long goodbyes.