Deontay Wilder is ready to fight Oleksandr Usyk after his undisputed heavyweight title against Tyson Fury fell through.
Fury and Usyk were set to meet each other for all the heavyweight titles after months of negotiations finally edged towards an official agreement, but the highly-anticipated fight has now been cancelled. Fury had demanded a 70/30 purse split in his favour, which Usyk accepted, before also suggesting neither fighter is granted a rematch clause.
Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk has also revealed that Fury wasn't a fan of Usyk's proposed £1million donation from his purse to the people of Ukraine. Former WBC titleholder Wilder is now open to a meeting with Usyk after the collapse of the undisputed clash as his manager Shelly Finkel told Sky Sports : "If the Usyk fight is available, Deontay will take it in a heartbeat."
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Wilder's only professional defeats have come to Fury and the former champion's coach Malik Scott is confident that his fighter could knockout the Ukrainian.
"One plus one is two, and Usyk gets hit," he told Mirror Fighting . "Deontay is the hardest puncher in the history of the sport and Deontay doesn't have to hit you over and over and over, if you're tough enough to take it then you can take it. Usyk is a smaller man, but we'll see how much Usyk can take it."
'The Bronze Bomber' pondered retirement following his brutal knockout loss to Tyson Fury in their trilogy fight but opted against hanging up his gloves, returning to the ring in January to stop Robert Helenius. Wilder has since hinted at a fourth meeting with 'The Gypsy King' but Fury's dad John has played it down in fears that his son could kill the American.
"I'm worried about him fighting Wilder because I'm afraid of him killing Wilder," Fury sr told Mirror Fighting. "Wilder's got a cracked skull, his skull is cracked like an egg.
"That kind of thing can't be repaired so if Tyson hits him again he could kill him. I've said 'unless you want a funeral on your hands and the death of Deontay Wilder keep from him'.
"He's beat him three times, massacred him each time. He beat him [in the controversial draw] when he'd just lost eight-stone and been out of the ring for three years. He poses no threat, the only danger he poses is Tyson killing him. That danger and smoke, we don't want, let him go faff about with these blokes he can hit once and they'll lay on the floor and carry on, he's no good to Tyson. I don't want to go to my grave knowing that my son's killed somebody."
