Deontay Wilder made his presence in the United Kingdom known when he entered the ring and informally announced his fight against Tyson Fury after Fury’s last victory.
The two heavyweight stars are set to fight at the end of the year in the United States for Wilder’s WBC heavyweight title. Although the fight isn’t Wilder’s preferred fight after having lobbied for a fight against unified champion Anthony Joshua, Wilder will still be taking on one of the biggest heavyweight stars in the United Kingdom.
In fact, such a fight would be one where Wilder believes can make him into the biggest heavyweight star in the U.K. In an interview with Boxing Talk, Wilder said a victory over Fury would net him more fans in the United Kingdom than Joshua.
“The baddest man on the planet is named Deontay Wilder and after this fight, they must give me my recognition. After this fight, I’m going to have more fans in the UK than Joshua does, they’re already turning on him, wait until I take care of Tyson Fury, it’s going to be a wrap for them.” Wilder said.
The statement is a big one, considering Joshua’s immense popularity in the region. After all, Joshua’s last three fights, two in Cardiff, Wales and one in London, have drawn more than 250,000 total spectators, breaking the all-time attendance record for a boxing fight in Great Britain back in 2017.
Both Joshua and Wilder have had on-and-off contract negotiations for a superfight that would crown boxing’s next undisputed heavyweight champion for the past year. The fight has gotten close to being signed, but it ultimately fell through, which resulted in Wilder and Fury coming to terms on their heavyweight title fight.
The fight between Wilder and Fury is expected to take either in New York or Las Vegas at the end of the year on a Showtime pay-per-view. In that same interview, Wilder said he thinks the official announcement for the fight will take place in Las Vegas sometime next week, which would be during fight week for Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin 2.
