In an ideal world, the winners of the fast-approaching world heavyweight title fights – between defending WBA/IBF champ Anthony Joshua and WBO ruler Joseph Parker, and between WBC king Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz – will meet up and fight before the year is out. And it is this ideal world Wilder hopes he lives in.
Wilder, who has given Cuban dangerman Ortiz a second chance (the big southpaw’s November 2017 shot at the WBC belt ruined by his own failed drugs test) has told Sky Sports how he aims to face the Joshua-Parker winner in a Mega-Fight once he has dealt with Ortiz.
“The winner goes on to fight the winner of Joshua-Parker,” Wilder said of his upcoming bout with Ortiz. “This is the build-up and the lead-up to the mega-fight, the unification fight. One man will have all of the belts, once and for all. The heavyweight division is very special and it’s important for one man to have all the belts. We’re not moving up or going down in weight. We’re staying where we are. This is what makes the fights so exciting, between me and Ortiz, Joshua and Parker. It’s like a tournament. May the best man win.”
Most fans are, it’s fair to say, anticipating that big, guaranteed explosive collision fight between Joshua and Wilder, and this may well be how things unfold. But in no way can either Ortiz or Parker be underestimated or written off. But say Wilder and AJ do come through okay and then clash for ALL the belts; the winner of that one would undeniably be looked at as THE man.
Or would he? What about Tyson Fury? With the unbeaten, (still, just about) linear king’s comeback hopefully all in order for this spring, Fury is sure to make plenty of noise and threaten to beat either Wilder or Joshua, or Parker or Ortiz come to that. The heavyweight division is as hot as it has been in some years, and it could be argued how there are five men who are very much deserving of staking their claim as being the best of the best of the weight class.
Hopefully the Wilder-Ortiz winner will indeed face the Joshua-Parker winner next, and then, if he’s proven he still has it, Fury will be in line to fight the winner of the four-belt unification blockbuster. We fans will sure be happy if this turns out to be how things develop.
Who will rule as the beast big man in the world by the end of this year? It’s very much up for grabs, but Wilder edges out as the slight favourite from this ringside seat.