🎨: WBN
Ex-heavyweight ruler Deontay Wilder would get approval for a WBC bridgerweight title shot, World Boxing News has been told.
WBN asked World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman about Wilder’s potential request to take a crack at current champion Lawrence Okolie. The question came after speculation over Wilder’s future in the sport without the chance to fight for the sport’s top prize.
It’s no secret Wilder can make 224 pounds or even drop down as low as cruiserweight. Therefore, “The Bronze Bomber” has two options for a championship opportunity if he decides to continue boxing.
Due to Wilder’s standing with the sanctioning body, the eligibility to become a two-weight world titleholder, which Sulaiman would give the green light to in either division, could be too much for the American slugger to pass up.
Okolie has a mandatory to deal with against Kevin Lerena first. Still, once that is in the books or if a step-aside was agreed, Wilder could immediately contest another world title.
Asked about the fight, Sulaiman told WBN exclusively, “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.”
Trainer Joe Gallagher, who oversaw Okolie’s victory over Lukasz Rozanski to claim the green and gold belt, was on board with the Wilder fight in the ring after the final bell,
“There’s a good unification fight there, and there are smaller heavyweights,” Gallagher told Sky Sports. “Deontay Wilder is only fifteen and a half [stones], and the weights of heavyweights, Lawrence is there at the moment.
“I’d like to see him unify this with the WBA championship and then move into the heavyweights,” he added.
Analyst George Groves added, “I think, maybe, Wilder is the sort of character who goes, ‘I’m such a big name, I’m a former heavyweight world champion, I can’t see me just getting a shot at a heavyweight world title any time soon, but why not become a two-weight world champion by fighting at bridgerweight?’”
Wilder, ever fighting lower than heavyweight, remains an outsider at the moment. The Tuscaloosa native has not indicated that he’d ever contemplate moving down to bridgerweight. However, the 38-year-old did show interest in fighting at cruiserweight before the inception of the in-between weight class.
Therefore, if the right offer comes along, possibly from Turki Alalshikh, Wilder may have one more shot at glory.
By Phil Jay