The winner of Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) vs. Tyson Fury (27-0, 19 KOs) will have a mandatory challenger in place, Dominic Breazeale (19-1, 17 KOs).
Fury will challenge Wilder for his WBC heavyweight title on December 1 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Wilder's last mandatory defense came in November of 2017, when he blew away Bermane Stiverne in the first round. On the same card, Breazeale stopped Eric Molina in a final eliminator. Breazeale has not fought since.
Wilder stopped Luis Ortiz in ten rounds back in March, and last month Fury won a unanimous decision over Francesco Pianetta.
The World Boxing Council made it clear, that Breazeale's mandatory defense will be placed on the shelf - if the Wilder-Fury winner reaches a deal for a unification showdown with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO champion Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs).
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman made it clear that he's not going to stand in the way of Joshua facing the Wilder-Fury winner. But if no deal comes around, then Breazeale will get his ordered crack at the gold.
Joshua is scheduled to fight again on April 13th at Wembley in London. No opponent has been set as of yet.
The unified champion was in action last month, also at Wembley, when he stopped WBA mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin in seven rounds.
The sanctioning body will be keeping a close eye on the Joshua discussions in the aftermath of the Wilder-Fury event.
Coincidentally, Breazeale's sole career defeat was a seventh round knockout loss to Joshua in the summer of 2016. He's won two fights since.
The sanctioning body will also review a claim being made by WBC Silver champion Dillian's Whyte, who believes that he's done more than enough to earn a mandatory crack at Wilder's title. Whyte is being pegged as the frontrunner to face Joshua in April - if a deal with the Wilder-Fury winner is not reached.
2023-10-22 00:20:23
