Deontay Wilder and WBC eliminator rival Andy Ruiz Jr. have begun training for their heavyweight clash slated for the spring.
The Premier Boxing Champions pair will clash on Pay Per View with the winner set to challenge the victor from Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has already confirmed Wilder vs Ruiz as the fight that will decide the next mandatory.
Despite Al Haymon holding plans to stage the fight for almost three years, attempts to block the bout continue.
Firstly, Wilder turned his head to Anthony Joshua. At the same time, Ruiz is now being offered the chance to fight Filipin Hrgovic for the interim IBF heavyweight title.
Deontay Wilder vs Andy Ruiz Jr.
But as World Boxing News explained on Thursday, Ruiz will pass on the opportunity provided Wilder holds no interest in going elsewhere.
Therefore, Wilder vs Ruiz should be confirmed by the end of January for a date between late March and May 2023.
Fans have since accused promoter Eddie Hearn, who helps promote Hrgovic alongside Wasserman’s Kalle Sauerland, of continued attempts to sabotage the division’s stipulated match-ups.
Firstly, Hearn announced that Hrgovic would be mandatory for Usyk next. He added that they would do anything in their power to make sure the fight happened now.
One said: “First he tried sabotaging Usyk vs Fury. Now he wants to sabotage Wilder vs Ruiz. It’s killing him that he isn’t involved in either,” on Hearn’s moves.
However, the IBF rejected the intentions of the Matchroom boss in favor of a Fury vs Usyk undisputed battle. In place of that, Hearn has found an alternative route and one that would potentially halt Wilder vs Ruiz.
But WBN understands Hearn’s push to block will again fail. Wilder and Ruiz intend to go through with Haymon’s wishes.
Ruiz has one more fight on his PBC contract. The blueprint has always been to face Wilder. The only battle that would have possibly paused that plan was Wilder vs Joshua.
If Joshua had accepted Wilder’s offer, exclusively revealed by WBN late last year, Ruiz would have extended his PBC contract by one fight so he could battle the winner.
As things stand, Joshua rejected Wilder’s advances and is looking to face Jermaine Franklin in the UK instead.
IBF ‘sabotage’ bid
This leaves Wilder vs Ruiz firmly on the cards for a Las Vegas or New York showdown despite Hearn’s lobbying of the IBF.
Wilder and Ruiz shared training videos as the preparations for a spring blockbuster began.
As WBN also stated this week, IBF rated three Ruiz will reject Hrgovic, as will Wilder placed at number four. Ironically, and again favorable to Hearn at Matchroom, Joshua is next in line.
Joshua vs Hrgovic holds far more opportunity to take place in the summer for the ‘interim’ belt. It could even be for the full title, as WBN explained, if Fury beats Usyk in the spring.
Fury has vowed to vacate the IBF belt immediately if he wins the Usyk fight. This move dates back to a row with the sanctioning body in 2015.
After defeating Wladimir Klitschko in Germany, Fury was stripped of the IBF’s belt within days. Unless they pay back the fees owed to Fury, “The Gypsy King” said he’ll have nothing to do with them again.
