Deontay Wilder faces a fight to save his career if the former heavyweight champion wants to embark on a comeback.
For starters, his ambitions of regaining the world title are firmly off the menu, at least in the top division. As World Boxing News has reported many times, Wilder has options at both cruiserweight and bridgerweight, but effectively, his high-profile heavyweight tenure ended with Zhilei Zhang.
Wilder no longer commands respect, as his opponents know they can hurt him at will. The punch resistance he once displayed against Luis Ortiz and others has gone. Just over a year after scoring a spectacular victory against Robert Helenius, Joseph Parker whipped away any final remnants of any illusions over Wilder being a championship force.
Six weeks after the Zhang stoppage, Wilder remains no closer to announcing a decision on his future. A world title shot in the offing from WBC Bridgerweight ruler Lawrence Okolie saw a short window close when “The Bronze Bomber” failed to respond.
WBN sent Okolie’s agreement to Wilder’s manager, Shelly Finkel. The long-time boxing figure refused to even speculate on whether Wilder would return to action.
After a fight with Andy Ruiz Jr., sanctioned by the WBC and lined up by promoter Al Haymon, fell apart in 2021, Wilder has been on a downward spiral of inactivity and defeats. As things stand, Wilder remains in limbo and missing in action.
A big-money fight with Anthony Joshua has gone. However, WBN laid out a plan to reignite the battle, which was halted by the WBC announcing an agreement for Okolie to fight his mandatory Kevin Lerena.
Had Wilder wanted the Okolie fight, there would have been significant scope to stage the fight on Joshua’s Wembley undercard in September. If Wilder could take Okolie’s belt and become a two-weight world titleholder and AJ had beaten Daniel Dubois for the IBF version on the same night, there would have been a serious play for the pair to meet in a champion vs champion scenario.
That’s no longer the case.
Nobody in Wilder’s camp has relayed any information on whether the Tuscaloosa native will fight in 2024 or beyond. Many predictions that Wilder’s career in the sport may be already over overshadow a possible comeback. That speculation only intensifies due to his problems outside of the ring. Only Wilder knows if he even wants it anymore.
Wilder won the WBC heavyweight title in 2015 and held it until 2020, in the longest title run in the top division since the Klitschko brothers. The ten title defenses will undoubtedly earn Wilder a Hall of Fame place. However, a tragic end to an exceptional tenure will occur unless he decides to continue.
Fans are still in the dark about Wilder, so the American puncher cannot afford to wait that long and needs to spark interest in another run. The longer Wilder waits, the older he gets. When he gets in the ring again, his activity levels will be more than critical as he approaches 40.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
