By Scott Gilfoid: #3 WBC Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30 KO’s) is hoping that his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions can line up a fight for the vacant WBC heavyweight title against #1 WBC Bermane Stiverne (23-1-1, 20 KO’s) once WBC heavyweight title holder Vitali Klitschko vacates his title or is stripped of his belt by the WBC for failing to defend it in over a year.
If Vitali decides to keep defending the belt, then Deontay says he wants to fight former heavyweight title challenger Tony Thompson (38-4, 26 KO’s) to keep busy while he waits for his eventual shot against the WBC title.
Vitali said recently that he’ll be running for the president of Ukraine. It would seem likely that he won’t have time for training to defend the title against his mandatory challenger Stiverne. However, if Vitali does choose to keep the belt and defend it against Stiverne then Deontay could end up waiting two more years before he gets the title shot at the belt if Vitali decides to keep the title until the bitter end.
A victory for Vitali over Stiverne would then put Vitali in position where he would have two optional title defenses, and with him fighting just once a year, he could go two years of fighting fringe contenders that are little threat to him before having to face Deontay. It’s hard to imagine Vitali, 42, choosing to hold onto his WBC title for another 2-3 years, but anythings possible.
Deontay – “We’ll what will happen with Vitali. If it don’t, then we can try Thompson. Me and Tony Thompson can make history.”
A fight between the 6’7″ Deontay and the 6’5″ Tony Thompson would be an interesting one, but it would little more than stay busy fight for Deontay to keep him ranked high while he waits on an eventual title shot against one of the Klitschkos. If Vitali decides to keep his WBC title until his mid-40s, then Deontay would be better off trying to get a fight against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko because he fights a lot more often than Vitali.
Wladimir likes to fight 3 times per year, so he’s not just going to sit on a title fighting once a year the way Vitali is now. Wladimir would be the better option for Deontay if Vitali opts to milk his belt for the next 3 years. I can’t imagine the WBC letting Vitali fight once a year, but I think they’ll let him do that if that’s all he has time for.
As for Thompson, I’m not so sure he’d be willing to get in the ring with a talent like Deontay. That would be a very dangerous fight for Thompson. Earlier this year, Thompson wasn’t do gung-ho about wanting to fight Deontay, but that was before Thompson’s recent loss to Kubrat Pulev. He might be more open to facing him now due to it being the quickest way for him to get back in position for a title shot if he were to pull off a huge upset and beat Deontay. I can’t see Thompson beating Deontay, but it’s definitely the quickest route he can take to try and get another world title shot.
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