Deontay Wilder Talks Possibly Having To Fight Dominic Breazeale

After a fight against Anthony Joshua to crown the next undisputed heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder‘s fight future for the next few months is up in the air.

Wilder, the current WBC heavyweight champion, had initially received the blessing of the governing body to unify titles with Joshua, the WBA, WBO and IBF champion, before the bout got scrapped. With Wilder not having an opponent now for his expected fall return to the ring, Wilder might be ordered to fight Dominic Breazeale, who won a title eliminator last year.

In an interview with Kenneth Bouhairie, Wilder did acknowledge he will eventually have to fight Breazeale, but didn’t commit to whether or not he would have to fight Breazeale next.

“Right now, we’re not looking at Breazeale. He’s a mandatory so eventually he’s going to get what’s coming to him. There is definitely history there and I can’t wait to fight him. There’s a possibility he could be next, or a possibility he may not be. I advise him to just stay ready and get in the best shape of his life,” Wilder said.

Breazeale has not fought since winning that title eliminator last November when he stopped Eric Molina in eight rounds. It was Breazeale’s second consecutive win after getting knocked out by Anthony Joshua in 2016 with the IBF title on the line. Breazeale is currently ranked No. 2 in the WBC rankings and the organization had set up a secondary title eliminator between Dillian Whyte and Luis Ortiz, the No. 1 and No. 3 heavyweights, respectively. Whyte withdrew from the title eliminator to take a fight against Joseph Parker.

Wilder won the WBC title all the way back in 2015 when he defeated former champion Bermane Stiverne by unanimous decision. Since then, Wilder has successfully defending his title seven times, winning all matches by stoppage.