As fans may know, former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder will return to action next month, in what is very much planned to be a rebuild fight against Tyrrell Herndon. But after that much-needed win, Wilder will “take a run at becoming champion again.” So says Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott.
Wilder wants the crown back—but will his fists cooperate?
Scott, who spoke with IFL TV, said Wilder has “still got the urge to become champion, because he is a champion at heart,” and that Deontay simply needs to get back to knocking opponents out. In addition, Scott said that a fight between Wilder and Anthony Joshua – which should have happened years ago when both guys were unbeaten rival heavyweight champions – remains “an obvious fight to make.”
“He’s still got the urge to become champion, because he is a champion at heart,” Scott said of Wilder. “He’s on the second half of his career, he’s filthy rich. He wants to take another run at the heavyweight championship of the world. It’s [Wilder Vs. Joshua] just one of those obvious fights that most people, including myself, want to see. Besides that, you have AJ and Fury that people want to see; Wilder and AJ. The whole thing is, the business side can sometime be extremely irritating to the fans. But we’re gonna see if the business can make these big fights happen for these guys. I think Deontay, on the second half of his career, is still a household name, obviously. All he has to do is fight and people are gonna show up. All he has to do is come and knock people out and people are gonna get excited.”
Herndon first—then maybe, finally, Joshua?
But as far as Wilder getting in there and knocking people out, Scott himself acknowledges that “it’s about him doing that, going in and getting it done.” And Scott is adamant that Wilder, 43-4-1(42) “will do that.”
So, maybe, possibly, starting with the fight against Herndon 24-5(15) on June 27, Wilder will get back to scoring KO’s. But can Wilder, at age 39, get himself back into the big, big fights? Judging by the showings Wilder gave against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, the odds say no to him ever becoming champion again. That said, if he can knock off a couple of fighters, even lower level guys, Wilder Vs. Joshua would still bring in a lot of interest, and a whole lot of money.
Could it be that, after all this time, we finally get to see Wilder against Joshua this year, or maybe next year?
