WBC heavyweight Deontay Wilder has targeted WBA and WBO titleholder Tyson Fury, and will even travel to the UK to get his hands on Fury’s belts.
After Wilder successfully retained his title against Artur Szpilka, both men got into a confrontation after Fury entered the ring at the Barclays Center, New York. After facing off and exchanging words, Wilder said he would go to Fury’s ‘backyard’ and still sticks to travelling across the pond.
Wilder told talkSPORT: “When he [Fury] got in the ring [following Wilder’s victory over Artur Szpilka to retain his WBC title], I told him I would come to his backyard and I mean that. I’m willing to come over there and take the title from him.
“I’m very comfortable in England, I’ve got a lot of friends there.
“And I feel that when you see ‘heavyweight champion of the world’, that’s a world traveller, not just [who’s done it] in their home country, but all over the world.
“That’s what I want to be recognised as. At the end of the day, when my legacy is done, that’s what I want to remembered as, somebody who went behind enemy lines, fought everybody and had great, exciting fights.”
Both men currently are preoccupied in their next bouts, as Wilder is in negotiations for a bout against the mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin and Fury has a rematch in place with former heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko.
Wilder said he aims to fight Povetkin in April. He aims to unify the division and with the Fury-Klitschko venue and date still not set, he would be willing to fight IBF champion Charles Martin.
“My next opponent will be Alexander Povetkin, it’s my mandatory. I’m looking to try to fight him sometime in April, if possible. After that fight, we’ll see if Klitschko and Fury has a date yet, you know how I am I like to continue to fight.
“If they don’t have a date set up, my next fight after Alexander Povetkin, I’m just telling you my perfect world, not looking past no one but just my perfect planning of world, if they don’t have a set date after that [the Povetkin fight], I’m looking to go to Charles Martin to get the IBF title,” Wilder said to talkSPORT.
– Oun Abbas Hussain / @ouney86
– Managing Editor for Behind the Gloves.
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