A long reigning former heavyweight champion has made it clear why he is returning to the ring: all the belts.
The heavyweight landscape has dramatically changed over the last 5 years, with the biggest names in the division all being dethroned of their titles. Deontay Wilder lost his WBC belt to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua lost his three straps when he was twice beaten by Oleksandr Usyk, with the Ukrainian repeating that feat against Fury.
Usyk is now undoubtedly the number one in boxing’s blue ribbon division. He will face IBF champion Daniel Dubois on July 19 for the chance to become two-time undisputed.
Whilst Fury is still in retirement and Joshua recovering from minor elbow surgery off the back of a devastating defeat to Dubois, Wilder is about to make his return to the ring after a year out and has one clear motivation ahead of his return.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ has suffered four defeats in his last five outings, the latest a devastating knockout at the hands of Zhilei Zhang. The 39-year-old has suggested injuries have been the reason for the poor performances and has vowed to win the titles back in a statement ahead of his return to the ring.
“I’m coming back for all the belts, you know the heavyweight division I brought it back years ago in 2015 and I’m gonna bring it back again. I’m taking him seriously, we’ve got a lot of fights lined up for this year, two for sure but three maybe. It’s going to be a great fight whilst it lasts but this warm up, tune up, I’m taking it serious and once completing the task then we move on into the limelight of the bigger and better fights. This is the tester.”
Wilder will face relatively unknown heavyweight Tyrrell Herndon on June 27 for his comeback fight, declaring ‘the king has returned’.
“I never thought about giving up. I never thought about quitting. I never thought about retiring. These are all rumours and these are the things that people who don’t know anything be saying.
I’m glad to be here and glad to lead by example. The king has returned.”
