Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder could be facing interim champion Alexander Povetkin in the coming days, following the latter’s clash against Dillian Whyte later this month.
Ever since the rematch against the current green and gold titleholder Tyson Fury, Wilder has been away from the ring but still garnered attention through his verbal accusations towards the Gypsy King.
A trilogy fight is highly anticipated to settle the rivalry, but Fury currently has been prepping up to have his unification bout against WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO champion Anthony Joshua.
Meanwhile, World Boxing News has recently put forward the notion that Wilder could be squaring off against WBC’s interim champion Alexander Povetkin, which will determine the number one contender to challenge Fury’s throne.
Povetkin vs Whyte will determine Wilder’s opponent for the mandatory challenger fight
All that being said, before Wilder vs Povetkin can take place, the Russian will have to come out defending his interim belt in his rematch against the former titleholder Dillian Whyte, a fight which is set to be held on 27th March in a yet to be decided location in Gibraltar.
In their previous faceoff, Whyte lost his interim belt via a 5th round TKO back in August last year at the Matchroom Headquarters in Brentwood. In case Povetkin is able to trounce the Briton once again, his path to earning a title fight against Fury will just have one hurdle- the Bronze Bomber.
Despite being inactive for more than a year since losing to FUry in February last year, Wilder has been able to retain his no. 1 spot in the latest WBC rankings of March, while Whyte is ranked in sixth.
In case Povetkin loses his next fight, it will be Whyte, having regained the interim belt, squaring off against Wilder to secure a fight against Fury, and securing a win in that, Wilder will earn his much-desired trilogy against the Gypsy King.
WBC Heavyweight Ratings March 2021
Champion: Tyson Fury [GB]
Interim: Alexander Povetkin [Russia]
1 Deontay Wilder [US]
2 Oleksandr Usyk [Ukraine]
3 Luis Ortiz [Cuba]
4 Andy Ruiz Jr. [Mexico/US]
5 Joe Joyce [GB] SILVER/EBU/BBBofC/COMM
6 Dillian Whyte [Jamaica/GB]
7 Joseph Parker [New Zealand]
8 Michael Hunter [US]
9 Filip Hrgovic [Croatia]
10 Charles Martin [US]
11 Efe Ajagba [Nigeria/US]
12 Agit Kabayel [Germany]
13 Tony Yoka [France]
14 Frank Sanchez [Cuba] AMERICAS *CBP/P
15 Dereck Chisora [GB]
