Deontay Wilder: WBC champion to face Dominic Breazeale on May 18 but refuses to rule out Anthony Joshua fight
Wilder turned down a lucrative offer from streaming service DAZN, pushing an Anthony Joshua fight further into the horizon
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Your support makes all the difference.Deontay Wilder has refuted claims that his now confirmed WBC heavyweight title defence against Dominic Breazeale has added another obstacle to an undisputed fight with Anthony Joshua.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Wilder confirmed that he had turned down a lucrative $100m+ three-fight deal from streaming service DAZN – to which Joshua is attached – and would face his mandatory challenger Breazeale on rival broadcaster Showtime.
The move adds another blockade to the convoluted heavyweight saga which sees Wilder, Joshua and Tyson Fury all attached to separate US networks.
However, the undefeated 33-year-old knockout artist attempted to ease concerns by claiming that with "cooperation” between his and Joshua’s camp, an agreement to see the two champions battle for all the recognised belts could be reached in the near future.
“We need to see one champion, one face, one name. It takes a lot of people and a lot of cooperation to make that happen,” Wilder said.
“Everybody wants to see the big fight but there are certain things we need to do – [Breazeale] is the mandatory. One fight, one step at a time.
“I bring the excitement, I hold all the keys, I am the man in the heavyweight division. Ain’t no other fighter doing what I’m doing.”
Wilder will face Breazeale, who was comfortably dispatched by Joshua in seven rounds in 2016, on May 18 with the bout likely to land at the Barclays Centre in New York.
The bout will not be aired on pay-per-view in a bid to increase the Alabamian champion’s profile in the US and garner more pulling power in negotiations with Joshua and Fury.
Wilder and Breazeale have a longstanding grudge since the pair’s camp clashed in a hotel lobby in early 2017, where the WBC champion claims Breazeale threatened to “kill his entire family”.
Speaking at the press conference, Wilder said: “I want to get him out of the way. I’m about to smash this fly. This is a personal fight for me. As the universe works this is the perfect time.”
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