Deontay Wilder is on the verge of retirement after back-to-back losses in Saudi Arabia.
The American heavyweight previously held the WBC World Title between 2015 and 2020 before coming up against Tyson Fury in their second bout of three and getting knocked out.
Wilder would lose the trilogy in a similar fashion and take a year out of the ring before returning with a one-round blow out of former sparring partner Robert Helenius. Another year of inactivity followed before he decided to pursue the one big-money bout left for him – Anthony Joshua.
To get it, he would have to beat Joseph Parker, but failed to do so, losing wide over the twelve round distance. He had another chance to set up the ‘AJ’ fight with a win against Zhilei Zhang this June whereas a loss, according to Wilder himself, could spell the end of his career. He was knocked out in the fifth.
The 37-year-old hasn’t officially commented on his status in the sport but a number of fighters and pundits have called on him to make good on the retirement promise. One who hasn’t is WBC Bridgerweight Champion Lawrence Okolie, who said he would happily put his belt on the line against ‘The Bronze Bomber.’
Okolie won the relatively new title from Lukasz Rozanski via first round demolition. Bridgerweight fills the gap – albeit one few in the sport believed was there – between cruiser and heavyweight with a limit of 224lbs. Wilder has regularly weighed in comfortably at around 215 throughout his career.
Given the Bridgerweight ranks are sparse for now, the WBC’s President Mauricio Sulaiman has now cleared the path for Wilder to accept Okolie’s challenge by saying the sanctioning body ‘would approve’ it. Should he want to add another weight class to his legacy before retiring, this is now a very real option.
I am sure that if Wilder wishes to fight vs the Bridgerweight champion the WBC would approve but we have not received anything from our dear Deontay camp https://t.co/bDoLgVaKiU
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) June 30, 2024
- Kerr Ferguson
