Report: Deontay Wilder's next fight could be announced soon
Deontay Wilder could be back soon.
The former heavyweight champ’s next fight could be announced as soon as next week, according to The Sun. And contender Robert Helenius could be in the opposite corner, although that has not been settled.
Wilder’s team reportedly is targeting late this year for the event.
“Spoke with him on Tuesday,” Wilder’s manager, Shelly Finkel, told the outlet. “He’s out in Vegas training and he’s very happy. He’s at the UFC gym training. We’re not exactly sure where the next fight will be yet but I would hope to have that together in the next week or so.
“I think next week we’ll probably have an agreement and then an announcement.”
Frank Warren, Tyson Fury’s co-promoter, reportedly said that Wilder would face Helenius. However, Finkel cautioned that the Finn is just a candidate.
“There’s nothing done,” he said. “What happened on that, Frank and I are pretty close, and Frank said to me, ‘Are you looking at Helenius … as one of the ones you’re looking at? As I’m interested in him for Daniel Dubois’.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m interested in him for Deontay.’ Then, all of a sudden he tells people that. And that’s how that all started. At this moment, he’s just one of several we’re looking at.”
Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) is coming off back-to-back knockout losses to Fury in February 2020 and this past October.
Meanwhile, Helenius (31-3, 20 KOs) stopped former contender Adam Kownacki in back-to-back fights in March 2020 and on the second Fury-Wilder card.