“Wilder is one of the best names Oleksandr has yet to come across,” Egis Klimas told The National. “He’s still in good shape, and he’s still a fighter, so he’s interesting. And also, this is the United States.”
Klimas’ comment about “best names” unfortunately does not mean ‘best fighters’. The 40-year-old Deontay has long been considered one of the best fighters in the heavyweight division. Former WBC champion Wilder is 2-4 in his last six fights, and hasn’t beaten a top fighter in many years.
Staging the fight in the U.S. makes sense for Usyk since that’s likely the only place it will draw a crowd. It is unclear whether Turki Alalshikh would be interested in financing a fight of this nature, given how Wilder fared in his two fights in Riyadh, losing to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. This is not competitive in any way.
What’s more concerning is Deontay’s lack of effort in both fights. He just moved around the ring against Parker and made no attempt to engage. In Wilder’s fifth-round knockout loss to Zhang in June 2024, he made one half-hearted charge forward in the fifth round. Zhang immediately pulled him down.
Wilder provides Usyk with a recognizable name, but without a threat. The booming right hand that ‘The Bronze Bomber’ once had is gone. He rarely throws it anymore, perhaps due to too many bad experiences getting clipped.
Usyk has already beaten Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice. He has an obligation to fight a risky battle now.
Wilder no longer has leverage to negotiate with Usyk. He is still well known to Americans, but he is no longer popular enough to use this to his advantage to negotiate favorable terms.
