02-10-2017, 12:50 PM
Wilder Wants Parker To Win Because 'Hughie Fury Won’t Fight Me'
By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Deontay Wilder will be rooting hard for Joseph Parker when Parker defends his WBO heavyweight title against Hughie Fury.
Wilder wants to add the WBO title to his WBC championship as soon as possible. The undefeated knockout artist figures Fury will avoid him if Fury upsets Parker in a mandated title fight that is expected to take place April 1.
“After Gerald Washington, we’re going after the winner of Hughie Fury and Joseph Parker, which we’re predicting Joseph Parker [will win],” Wilder said Wednesday during a break from the trial for his lawsuit against Alexander Povetkin. “So I’m gonna go after Joseph Parker for the WBO title. Once we go after that, and we get that, by the time that rolls around, we may have mandatories, we may not. But the idea is to get the winner of Klitschko-Joshua – two belts, two belts, unify the division and that’s it.”
The 31-year-old Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) first must successfully defend his WBC championship against Gerald Washington (18-0-1, 12 KOs) on February 25 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama (FOX).
When asked why, assuming he beats Washington, he wouldn’t first pursue the winner of an April 29 bout between England’s Anthony Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs), the IBF heavyweight champion, and former champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs), Wilder explained his blueprint for becoming boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion.
“Why not?,” Wilder said in response to why he would want to box Parker first. “He’s got another belt. I want belts. When Joshua and Klistchko [are done fighting], they may have mandatories. I may have a mandatory as well, after that.”
Regardless, Wilder said he would travel to Parker’s native New Zealand for a unification fight.
“As long it’s safe for me, my family and my fans to go, I’m not scared to go nowhere,” Wilder said. “I actually want to go to different countries, as far as my legacy is concerned.”
England’s Fury (20-0, 10 KOs) is expected to travel to Auckland, New Zealand for his shot at Parker (22-0, 18 KOs). If Fury wins, Wilder wouldn’t count on Tyson Fury’s cousin embracing a unification fight.
“If Hughie beats Parker, basically I don’t think Hughie will fight me,” Wilder said. “Once he get that belt, he will go everywhere else but to fight me, for sure. Before anybody, [Andrzej] Wawrzyk or whoever we had, it was rumors about me and him, of course, because he was the contender and I’m the champion. But once you become the champion, you really wanna come this way? Nobody really wants to face a Wilder. These guys say all this stuff on this camera, and right here, if I’m in the room, they’ll say different. It’s different.”
By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Deontay Wilder will be rooting hard for Joseph Parker when Parker defends his WBO heavyweight title against Hughie Fury.
Wilder wants to add the WBO title to his WBC championship as soon as possible. The undefeated knockout artist figures Fury will avoid him if Fury upsets Parker in a mandated title fight that is expected to take place April 1.
“After Gerald Washington, we’re going after the winner of Hughie Fury and Joseph Parker, which we’re predicting Joseph Parker [will win],” Wilder said Wednesday during a break from the trial for his lawsuit against Alexander Povetkin. “So I’m gonna go after Joseph Parker for the WBO title. Once we go after that, and we get that, by the time that rolls around, we may have mandatories, we may not. But the idea is to get the winner of Klitschko-Joshua – two belts, two belts, unify the division and that’s it.”
The 31-year-old Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) first must successfully defend his WBC championship against Gerald Washington (18-0-1, 12 KOs) on February 25 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama (FOX).
When asked why, assuming he beats Washington, he wouldn’t first pursue the winner of an April 29 bout between England’s Anthony Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs), the IBF heavyweight champion, and former champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs), Wilder explained his blueprint for becoming boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion.
“Why not?,” Wilder said in response to why he would want to box Parker first. “He’s got another belt. I want belts. When Joshua and Klistchko [are done fighting], they may have mandatories. I may have a mandatory as well, after that.”
Regardless, Wilder said he would travel to Parker’s native New Zealand for a unification fight.
“As long it’s safe for me, my family and my fans to go, I’m not scared to go nowhere,” Wilder said. “I actually want to go to different countries, as far as my legacy is concerned.”
England’s Fury (20-0, 10 KOs) is expected to travel to Auckland, New Zealand for his shot at Parker (22-0, 18 KOs). If Fury wins, Wilder wouldn’t count on Tyson Fury’s cousin embracing a unification fight.
“If Hughie beats Parker, basically I don’t think Hughie will fight me,” Wilder said. “Once he get that belt, he will go everywhere else but to fight me, for sure. Before anybody, [Andrzej] Wawrzyk or whoever we had, it was rumors about me and him, of course, because he was the contender and I’m the champion. But once you become the champion, you really wanna come this way? Nobody really wants to face a Wilder. These guys say all this stuff on this camera, and right here, if I’m in the room, they’ll say different. It’s different.”