Shelly Finkel, manager for former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, says his boxer is ready and willing to face WBA, IBF, IBO, WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk was in serious negotiations to fight WBC champion Tyson Fury on April 29 in London – but it was revealed on Wednesday, by Usyk’s handlers, that their negotiations have fallen through.
“If the Usyk fight is available, Deontay will take it in a heartbeat,” Finkel told Sky Sports.
Malik Scott, the head trainer of Wilder, feels confident his man could knock Usyk out.
“One plus one is two, and Usyk gets hit,” Scott told Mirror Fighting . “Deontay is the hardest puncher in the history of the sport and Deontay doesn’t have to hit you over and over and over, if you’re tough enough to take it then you can take it. Usyk is a smaller man, but we’ll see how much Usyk can take it.”
Usyk would face a mountain of hurdles to make a Wilder fight happen.
The unbeaten champion has three mandatory obligations on the table.
First up, would be a showdown with WBA ‘regular’ champion Daniel Dubois. The sanctioning body has already ordered Usyk to face Dubois – if a Fury fight fell apart.
Next up, would be a likely defense against IBF mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic. And then, there is the matter of the WBO’s mandatory challenger, interim-champion Joe Joyce, who has to win an upcoming fight with Zhilei Zhang to keep his mandatory position in place.
Wilder was in talks for a WBC final eliminator against former unified champion Andy Ruiz, but the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement.