Deontay Wilder was pleasantly surprised to hear that Oleksandr Usyk was interested in defending his unified heavyweight titles against him next.
It looked as though Usyk would face mandatory challenger Fabio Wardley, but talks broke down. Usyk then relinquished his WBO strap and Wardley was upgraded to full-champion. With Usyk deciding against a date with Wardley there was speculation whether the Ukrainian would continue in the sport. After all, he has beaten all worthy challengers to his crown and, at 38 years old, isn't getting any younger.
Usyk put an end to speculation last week while attending the annual WBC Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, revealing that his favored pick for his next opponent is former champion Wilder. The former long-reigning WBC heavyweight champion has won just two of his last six fights since losing his title to Tyson Fury in their third fight in 2020. That matters little to Usyk, however, who seemingly wants to add the name of Wilder to his decorated resume.
“I wasn't expecting that at all,” Wilder told BoxingScene of Usyk’s recent callout. “I was like, when I got the call and my manager and them calling tomorrow [he then paces up and down vigorously]. You know what I'm saying? We are on the phone, I'm pacing, I'm back and forth. Like I said, it'd probably be some type of burnt residue in my rug right now because of me going back and forth and stuff. I thought I smelled smoke. But yeah, I was excited, though. I really was excited. And I was overwhelmed with joy.”
So Wilder accepts the challenge of Usyk?
“Hell yeah, I want that smoke,” Wilder said. “I want all that smoke. We're going to make a signal out of that smoke, you know. And it's going to be good. We're in negotiations right now. “Negotiations are going very well. I just hope and pray that it all ends well, as well. And give the fans what they want to see. A lot of people are very excited. They made sure they let me know. I had to call my guy. I was like, ‘Man, they are really pumped for this fight’. So we'll see what happens.”
It seems as though Usyk is wanting to face Wilder in order to add his name to a record that already includes the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois and Mairis Briedis. The acquisition of Wilder’s name would complete the set for Usyk, with the Ukrainian defeating all the dominant figures of his era.
“I think they see a lot of things,” said Wilder. “Not only that, I don't think that's a major part of just completing this era of fighting for the last five, 10 years. But I also think that they see, just like other fighters or whatever, that they feel like I'm beatable now. They think they see holes in my armor and different things that they can do to beat me, to get it. I only say that because I go back on past conversations. When I was at the top, they didn't talk that way. It was a different language.
“I still got that power right here, but they feel because of my derailing of certain situations and me mentally getting myself back together, they feel like, ‘Oh, now we can beat him. Let's give him an opportunity’. Because I know for sure, the more you lose, the more opportunities you get than when you’re winning. I know that for a fact. You get more opportunities losing than winning because people feel like they can beat you. I think that’s one of the strongest opinions that I have about that. Now, you are right about finishing out the era and stuff, because that’s a great thing. I would want to do that as well, but I think the big deal is what I just said.”
Wilder and Usyk strike polar-opposites when viewing how two fighters have learned the sport. Usyk, who has studied his craft since a child and has been praised for his well-schooled skills over the years and then there is Wilder, who has relied on raw power rather than the fine arts to secure his victories as a professional.
“I think he's a very skillful fighter,” he said of his Ukrainian counterpart. “Even when I first was introduced to him and stuff like that, I always thought Usyk had nice skills. It's crazy how people's mindset is. One minute when you're great and doing your thing, ‘Oh, he’s wild, he don’t know how to box’. Now, when they feel like you’re gone and they want you back, ‘We want the old Wilder back’. I'm like, ‘I don't like him or something like that,’ I don't know, ‘You really want him back or you want the new one? Which one you want?’
“But it's all good, man. You can't please all the people all the time. You never can. You got to have a sense of humor, especially when you're in the business of boxing. You just have to. You have to have tough skin as well. And that I have. I have it all, and I'm looking forward to whatever God has for me. It's going to be big for me, and people are about to be shocked. “When [Muhammad] Ali said he shook the world or he shocked the world, I'm going to shock it as well. I'm going to shock it and shake it.
“How about that? Shock it and shake it.”
