Report: Deontay Wilder To Defend WBC Heavyweight Title On May 18
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder may not have an opponent for his next fight, but he may have a date and location already.
A report from Ring Magazine indicates that Wilder will defend his title on May 18 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Although no opponent has been announced, it is believed that the frontrunner to land the spot of Wilder’s opponent is Dominic Breazeale, who has been the mandatory challenger to Wilder’s title for well over a year.
Originally, it was hoped that Wilder would defend his title against Tyson Fury in a rematch of their December 2018 pay-per-view bout that ended in a draw. The two sides were seemingly close to a deal, but Fury then signed a co-promotional deal with Top Rank Boxing that would have Fury fight on ESPN. After that was announced, negotiations between Wilder and Fury fell through.
Breazeale was previously ordered by the WBC to fight Dillian Whyte for the interim WBC title, but that was before Fury signed with Top Rank. The WBC has yet to announce what its heavyweight title plans are going to be.
This wouldn’t be Wilder’s first fight at the Barclays Center as he last fought at the venue in March 2018. In that fight, Wilder fought and later stopped Luis Ortiz to retain his title in the main event of a Showtime-televised card. Breazeale’s last fight also took place at the Barclays Center, where he knocked out Carlos Negron on a PBC on Fox card.
