Deontay Wilder hopes Oleksandr Usyk will be ringside to see his fight with Robert Helenius next weekend.
The 'Bronze Bomber' is back in action when he returns to the ring for the first time since considering retirement after losing his trilogy bout with Tyson Fury. He will take on WBC contender Helenius at the Barclays Center in New York, and a win would see him retain his status as the No.1 ranked contender with the organisation.
However he could instead receive a shot at the unified WBO, IBF and WBA titles held by Ukrainian star Usyk, who has vowed to defend his titles against the 'Bronze Bomber' following his rematch victory over Anthony Joshua. And Wilder has vowed to ensure his heavyweight rival keeps his word with regards to a potential title chance.
"I'm going straight for the titles," Wilder said in an interview with Morning Kombat when discussing his plans beyond his upcoming meeting with Helenius. "I hear that Oleksandr Usyk will be at the fight and I also hear that if Robert Helenius wins he is mandatory challenger for that belt.
"Usyk is talking about fighting the winner of this fight and on the outside looking in I like him as a person and I value that so I hope he is a man of his word and wants to face the winner. Hopefully he is a man of his word and when I look through him I see Wilder v Usyk for the winner of all the belts.
"Most of the time in my career I have always been the one to bless fighters with a title shot so it is nice to be on the other side. I had to fight through anything and everything to get here and if so then that is a great fight with Usyk but I am not looking past Helenius. Even if I do fight with Usyk, there is some great fights afterwards including with my stablemate Andy Ruiz."
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Usyk was initially expected to fight in an undisputed title clash with Wilder's former rival Fury, but the fight has now been pushed back until next year after the champion elected to return home to Ukraine. It could be delayed even further if Usyk does decide to let Wilder have a shot at his belt.
And the 35-year-old's manager Egis Klimas has confirmed his fighter is willing to snub interest in a fight with Fury to touch gloves with the American instead. “It is a very possible fight,” Klimas said. "And actually, [Usyk] called and said, ‘if Fury’s not available and we cannot fight Fury, I would like to fight Deontay Wilder ’. So, I asked him why and he said, ‘because he’s a risky fighter and I like that’.
