By Keith Idec
Gerald Washington has accepted a figurative and literal tall order on short notice.
The unbeaten Washington has agreed to challenge WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on February 25 in Birmingham, Alabama. Washington has replaced Poland’s Andrzej Wawrzyk as Wilder’s opponent in a fight FOX will broadcast because Wawrzyk tested positive recently for an undisclosed performance-enhancing drug.
An official announcement from Premier Boxing Champions on the Wilder-Washington fight was made late Monday morning. As reported by BoxingScene.com last week, Washington immediately became the frontrunner to face Wilder when Wawrzyk was removed from the scheduled 12-round bout.
The 6-feet-6, 245-pound Washington (18-0-1, 12 KOs) was tentatively scheduled to compete on the Wilder-Wawrzyk undercard, thus the former USC football player was already training when manager Al Haymon approached him about boxing Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs). Washington, of Vallejo, California, last fought July 16, when he knocked out faded former contender Ray Austin (29-8-4, 18 KOs) in the fourth round on the Wilder-Chris Arreola undercard in Birmingham.
The 6-7, 225-pound Wilder stopped Arreola (36-5-1, 31 KOs, 2 NC) following eight one-sided rounds that night at Legacy Arena. Wilder-Arreola was scheduled only because Russia’s Alexander Povetkin (31-1, 23 KOs) failed a PED test in advance of a scheduled May 21 shot at Wilder in Moscow, which was canceled after Povetkin tested positive for meldonium.
The 31-year-old Wilder, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, sustained injuries to his right hand and right biceps against Arreola. He had surgeries to repair both injuries a couple weeks later and hasn’t fought since he battered Arreola six months ago.
Wawrzyk (33-1, 19 KOs) initially was picked as Wilder’s opponent because Wilder wants to make sure his hand and biceps are healed against a lesser opponent. The 34-year-old Washington – who is ranked No. 10 by the WBC, two spots ahead of Wawrzyk – battled to a criticized split draw with heavy-handed southpaw Amir Mansour (22-2-1, 16 KOs) in the most dangerous fight of Washington’s four-year pro career to date.
The Wilder-Washington fight will headline a tripleheader on free TV from Legacy Arena. The telecast also will include 10-rounders between heavyweights Dominic Breazeale (17-1, 15 KOs), of Alhambra, California, and Izu Ugonoh (17-0, 14 KOs), of Szczecin, Poland, and junior middleweights Jarrett Hurd (19-0, 13 KOs), of Accokeek, Maryland, and Tony Harrison (24-1, 20 KOs), of Detroit.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.