This is part two of a two-part article of when I had a chance to speak with the WBC World Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder. Part one of the article can be found here:
(http://goo.gl/NmF4vw)
In the 1st part of the interview, Wilder talked about his fight with Stiverne and a possible fight with Fury. In this part, he talks more about possible fights with Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye, as well as his thoughts on Bryant Jennings chances vs. Klitschko and when he plans to return to the ring. Two of the names that have been rumored for Deontay Wilder’s next bout were Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko. So I asked him if there have in fact been any negotiations with him and Klitschko, and he stated:
“No, I haven’t had any negotiations with him. I don’t think we’ll be able to do anything until 2016 anyway. He got a lot of mandatories he has to fulfill, and everyone wants their mandatories fulfilled. Due to that fact, I don’t see us getting in there until 2016 unless some miracle happens. Some people may take the step aside money, but no one wants to step aside, I didn’t want to step aside. I made my step aside (offer) so high that nobody would pay it, I said 10 million. I’m not stepping aside. But I’m willing to wait, I’m a champion.
It’s in his best interest to get me as soon as possible because he’s getting older, he’s a family man now. Married with kids and kids will take a toll on you because I know, having some of my own. I’m just glad it’s not IF, but WHEN it will happen because I know Klitschko wants to fight me, I want to fight him, and that’s definitely going to be the medal fight of all fights, unification bout.”
One person who has called out Wilder recently on twitter that would love to fight him is another UK fighter, David Haye. I asked Wilder his thoughts on Haye and on a possible bout with him, Wilder said,
“I like David. He’s a cool guy. He wouldn’t be a fighter if he didn’t want to take this belt. Every guy wants to come and take this belt. I always wanted to be the world’s most wanted. Now I’m in that position being the world’s most wanted. I love it. I feed off it. I wish him luck and till that time comes, we’ll see what happens.”
One topic that Wilder had a lot to say about what the upcoming bout between Wladimir Klitschko and Bryant Jennings. Which will take place at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, on April 25th. Wilder said he would definitely be in the building for that fight.
So I asked Wilder how he felt the bout would go, and Wilder responded:
“I know this is boxing, and anything can happen and in the heavyweight division, it can be about one punch sometimes. With that being said, I still say that Jennings has bitten off more than he can chew with this fight. He’s not ready, that’s a fact he’s not ready at all for this fight. His amateur career is not strong enough. He hasn’t fought the right amount of opponents. All he got is sparring, but sparring is completely different from when you get in that ring to battle. He hasn’t fought a tall fighter, someone who can keep his distance. Wladimir is great at what he do because Emanuel Steward guided him to where he is to be as good as he is. Jennings doesn’t even know.
I wish him well though, I wish everyone well. It would be great to have another American Champion, but I think he bit off more than he can chew because he’s not ready. I think he looked more at the money of this one. He said he is going to be champion, but I honestly don’t think he feels that in his heart. Even when they do interview with him, I see him shaking. I see the fear. And I’ve never seen Klitschko so calm when going into a battle. This is the calmest I’ve ever seen him. It’s because he’s confident. He knows he doesn’t have anything to worry about. I hope Jennings got the right amount of money that he can settle with because this might be the end of his career.”
I then asked Wilder when he plans to get back into the ring if there was an opponent, and where would it likely be. “We are looking at June. We are trying to get back in the ring in June. We have four locations that we are looking at, which are Mississippi, Atlanta, Alabama, and Montreal. No opponent yet, we have one in mind, but not able to speak on it yet”, said Wilder. When asked what network he would like to be on, he said, “NBC is a must. I’m going to definitely get an NBC card.”
