Deontay Wilder was offered a shot at the WBC bridgerweight title, after which manager Shelly Finkel spoke exclusively to World Boxing News.
Wilder gained a call-out from British fighter Lawrence Okolie, who recently took the green and gold belt from Lukasz Rozanski in Poland. Okolie confirmed his interest in facing Wilder weeks before reiterating that fact in another interview.
WBN gave those quotes to Finkel, who informed us of his position regarding Deontay Wilder moving from heavyweight south to 224 pounds.
“Please thank Lawrence Okolie for the offer, but we have no interest in the WBC bridgerweight title,” Finkel told World Boxing News exclusively.
Previously, Finkel had stated that it’s “too early to discuss whether Deontay Wilder will retire” following a knockout defeat to Zhilei Zhang in June before adding that he “had no comment on the news” of Wilder retiring a month later. He added to WBN, “At this point, Deontay Wilder has not retired.”
It’s not the first time Wilder had to fend off speculation that his future lay at bridgerweight. PBC presenter Brian Custer asked “The Bronze Bomber” when working with Showtime.
“My career is to be a heavyweight. That’s what I got in it for, and that’s what I’m going to end with,” Wilder told Custer. “Guys always outweigh me. So putting on weight is not a difficult part for me. My power makes up for all that,” he added.
Will Deontay Wilder return to boxing?
After Zhang handed Wilder his third loss, WBN specifically called on WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman to confirm if he’d consider allowing his former heavyweight champion to have an immediate shot at the 224-pound belt despite two straight losses. Sulaiman told WBN, “Lawrence Okolie is our champion and has the mandatory fight versus interim champion Kevin Lerena. However, if Lawrence Okolie and Deontay Wilder reach an agreement, it could be a possibility.”
Okolie has since agreed to fight Lerena in a mandatory to be arranged, meaning Wilder is out of the running unless there’s a significant turnaround on all sides.
Due to his name and accomplishments in the sport, Wilder will continually be linked to big fights unless he confirms his retirement. The defeats to Joseph Parker and Zhang have seemingly irrefutable damage to his reputation, and any future offers may come against one of the up-and-coming heavyweights rather than on the path to a title shot.
A rematch with Zhang is already considered unwinnable for Wilder, while Parker is at a loose end and would consider a second fight if the money was right. Given Wilder’s performance in December, though, it’s unfathomable to see any serious money being put down for a Parker return.
It’s more likely that Wilder’s career has run its course as the world-renowned knockout puncher approaches his 39th birthday.
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.
