It seems everyone wants a piece of WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder. Wilder of course returns to action next month, when he will face huge underdog Andrzej Wawrzyk of Poland in Alabama on February 25. But after that, Wilder should take a “real fight,” so says British promoter Eddie Hearn.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Hearn said he very much wants to see Wilder, 37-0(36) face his fighter, once-beaten, top-10 WBC contender Dillian Whyte this May. Whyte recently relinquished the British heavyweight title so as to fully commit himself to his dream of ruling the world – and Hearn said Whyte should get a shot at Wilder.
“I want to see Dillian Whyte against Deontay Wilder,” Hearn told Sky Sports News HQ. “Wilder is coming back with this fight in February against the Polish gentleman, which is just a keep-busy fight for him, so what about Dillian Whyte in May? Klitschko and Joshua are fighting, and maybe the winners of those two fights meet. It could be Joshua against Wilder at the back end of the year, but let’s see Deontay Wilder in a real fight against another Brit. Let’s see him against Dillian Whyte – that’s a real fight for Deontay Wilder.”
Hearn added how, while he is out in New York for tomorrow’s DeGale-Jack 168 pound unification fight, he will “go around and cause some trouble!” Hearn meant he will be trying to promote the idea of a Wilder-Whyte fight. But Wilder has his eyes on a number of big fights – with WBO champ Joseph Parker (who Wilder recently said he’d be open to fighting this April assuming all goes well against Wawrzyk) and the winner of Joshua-Klitschko.
Will Wilder risk bigger fights by taking a fight with the dangerous Whyte? And would Wilder be permitted yet another voluntary defence by the WBC (the Wawrzyk defence will be Wilder’s fifth voluntary)?
Whyte, though, is as deserving as just about any other top-10 guy you could mention. Having won four in a row since losing to Joshua in a great action fight (Joshua’s roughest, toughest pro fight to date) in December of 2015, Whyte showed incredible heart and courage in his December 2016 win over Dereck Chisora. While a rematch of that epic war is still a real possibility, Hearn says Whyte has “earned” a world title shot.
But will Deontay Wilder be the champion to afford Whyte a shot?