Notebook: Wilder waiting on promised offer for long-awaited mega fight with Joshua
GGG mandatory situation update; Parker-Ryder for interim belt; Shields-Marshall card makes history; Haney wants P4P consideration; Quick hits; Show and tell
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After Deontay Wilder scored a devastating first-round knockout of Robert Helenius with a single right hand on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, discussion quickly turned to what might be next for the former longtime WBC heavyweight titleholder.
Wilder, who returned from a year layoff and back-to-back knockout losses to Tyson Fury in world championship fights, spoke in the ring, and again at his post-fight news conference, about the prospect of a final WBC elimination bout with former unified titlist Andy Ruiz Jr. or perhaps a shot at three-belt unified titlist Oleksandr Usyk.
The WBC will mandate Wilder-Ruiz at its upcoming convention and there has been chatter about a possible Usyk fight if Usyk does not have his next fight against Fury for the undisputed title.
But Wilder and his co-manager, Shelly Finkel, also have major interest in a fight with Anthony Joshua, the British star and former two-time unified titleholder, who is coming off back-to-back decision losses to Usyk.