Article by Lem Satterfield of The Ring.
As the mandatory challenger to newly-crowned WBC titleholder Bermane Stiverne, Deontay Wilder said it would take a significant amount of money were he to step aside and allow Stiverne to face RING heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who has stated his desire for a unification bout.
A 28-year-old 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, Wilder (31-0, 31 knockouts) was ringside at USC's Galen Center in Los Angeles for Saturday's sixth-round technical knockout by Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) over Arreola for the belt vacated by Vitali Klitschko. Stiverne-Arreola was a rematch of Stiverne's unanimous-decision victory in April of last year.
Coming off a 96-second knockout of Malik Scott in a WBC eliminator bout in March, Wilder is well aware that Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) has expressed the desire to fight Stiverne, even as Klitschko has been ordered by the IBF to make his next defense against Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs).
"Only Wilder can reach an agreement with them. Wilder is the mandatory challenger and the only way to have [Klitschko-Stiverne] happen would be for Deontay Wilder to accept that," said Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC. "We are basing everything on the ruling that was made at the WBC convention in ****kok in October 2013 and we have been consistent with that ruling."
Wilder said he would consider stepping aside but only for a significant chunk of cash.
"I heard the same thing, that Klitschko wants to fight Stiverne. But I am the mandatory challenger, so that's the case as it stands right now," said Wilder, who celebrated his 27th birthday in Austria in November of 2012. At the time, he was the primary sparring partner for Wladimir Klitschko in advance of the unified champion's unanimous decision victory over Mariusz Wach.
"The thing about step-aside money is that I know that many people have taken the easy money and stepped aside and let other people fight. That being said, you know, as far as step-aside money, they would have to really come with something for me to want to step aside. Let's talk about something in the range of $10 million. Other than that, there won't be no stepping aside. That would be the end of that."
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A 28-year-old 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, Wilder (31-0, 31 knockouts) was ringside at USC's Galen Center in Los Angeles for Saturday's sixth-round technical knockout by Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) over Arreola for the belt vacated by Vitali Klitschko. Stiverne-Arreola was a rematch of Stiverne's unanimous-decision victory in April of last year.
Coming off a 96-second knockout of Malik Scott in a WBC eliminator bout in March, Wilder is well aware that Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) has expressed the desire to fight Stiverne, even as Klitschko has been ordered by the IBF to make his next defense against Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs).
"Only Wilder can reach an agreement with them. Wilder is the mandatory challenger and the only way to have [Klitschko-Stiverne] happen would be for Deontay Wilder to accept that," said Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC. "We are basing everything on the ruling that was made at the WBC convention in ****kok in October 2013 and we have been consistent with that ruling."
Wilder said he would consider stepping aside but only for a significant chunk of cash.
"I heard the same thing, that Klitschko wants to fight Stiverne. But I am the mandatory challenger, so that's the case as it stands right now," said Wilder, who celebrated his 27th birthday in Austria in November of 2012. At the time, he was the primary sparring partner for Wladimir Klitschko in advance of the unified champion's unanimous decision victory over Mariusz Wach.
"The thing about step-aside money is that I know that many people have taken the easy money and stepped aside and let other people fight. That being said, you know, as far as step-aside money, they would have to really come with something for me to want to step aside. Let's talk about something in the range of $10 million. Other than that, there won't be no stepping aside. That would be the end of that."
http://******.craveonline.com/news/3...for-10-million
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