WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder says he wants a rematch with Tyson Fury “ASAP.”
Wilder said in a conference call Tuesday that he’s “ready and willing to give Tyson Fury the opportunity ASAP.”
The two heavyweights fought to a split-decision draw Saturday night in Los Angeles in one of the bigger heavyweight bouts in America in years.
“I’m ready whenever he’s ready,” Wilder said. “I’m ready whenever he’s ready to do it. I’m ready to give the fans what they want to see and end this talk once and for all.”
Afterward, the British challenger said the two would “100 percent” meet again in the ring.
Wilder said he doesn’t want to fight anybody else before a rematch.
“Everyone is talking about this fight. It’s only right for us to go back in and do it again,” Wilder said. “I don’t want any other fights to happen between him and I (meeting again).”
Wilder (40-0-1) knocked Fury (27-0-1) down twice late in the fight, including once in the final round.
He was outboxed much of the way at Staples Center but was still surprised when Fury rose from that 12th-round knockdown — and that the referee didn’t end the fight.
“I saw his eyes roll slowly in the back of his head,” Wilder said. “Many people felt that should have been waved off. Nine out of 10 refs would have waved that off.”
He indicated the rematch might happen as early as March or April.
Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza said May or June might be more likely, giving the fighters more time to recover.
In the first meeting, Wilder said he let the pressure of being in his first pay-per-view fight affect him.
“I wanted to end it on a great note,” he said. “I wanted to end it on a devastating knockout and I pressed that. I pressed that too much.”
Wilder had lobbied for a fight with Anthony Joshua, who holds the other three championship belts.
He said Joshua and his team are “getting what they deserve” by being sidelined from his two most high-profile potential opponents.
“We had to show the world what it looks like for the best to fight the best, and look at the outcome,” Wilder said. “No one has talked about Joshua in I don’t know how long and we plan on keeping it that way.”
Wilder said he broke his right arm and had surgery about 12 weeks before training camp and threw few right hands during training, which he feels might have affected his accuracy.
Co-trainer Jay Deas said limiting the right in camp was a precautionary measure.
(Associated Press, copyright 2018)
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