Deontay Wilder has accused the undefeated unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk of being "afraid" to accept a bout with him for his three belts.
The hard-hitting former WBC title holder has only lost to one man in his career - twice being beaten by Tyson Fury - and believes that he will reclaim heavyweight gold. And while a fourth Fury fight is highly unlikely, he believes that he can get the rest of the belts which he never held by handing Usyk his first professional defeat.
The Ukrainian systematically picked off every cruiserweight champion around to become undisputed in his original division before moving up to heavyweight. And within a short few fights he had earned a mandatory title shot at Anthony Joshua, who he dethroned and defended his belts against before failing to make an undisputed fight with Fury this year.
And Wilder feels the unbeaten Olympic gold medalist is "afraid" of his intense power, which has seen him described as the hardest hitting fighter of his era. "I’m all for it," Wilder told ESNews. "He’s a little afraid - not a little afraid, but a lot afraid. I’m in the business, so I know a lot of things. I’m ready to go at any given moment of time, place, no matter what it is. They know that.
"I’m simple, I don't do all of that stuff [putting aggressive clauses into the deal like Tyson Fury], as far as trying to get a fight done I feel like we all can eat. That's how it should be, we need to be able to help each other eat and it's not about over-pricing yourself out of a fight and s*** like that.
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"We all risk our lives so damn, at least let us get a piece of the f***ing pie! That's it and I've always given people a piece of the pie because you just never know what's going to happen in and out of the ring. That's why but they don't make them like me, I'm very rare."
Wilder appears to be keen on fighting at least once before a massive December clash in Saudi Arabia with Anthony Joshua. He and his fellow ex-champion never fought when they ruled the heavyweight division, but there is still huge fan interest in seeing the pair compete, with Middle Eastern officials willing to put up monster purses in order to make a deal.
Joshua has twice lost his heavyweight belts, first to Andy Ruiz Jr before quickly reclaiming them and then to Usyk, who defeated him in a rematch last summer. He and Wilder both returned with wins over the last year, the American viciously stopped Robert Helenius in October before his British rival struggled through a decision win over Jermaine Franklin the following April.
