DEONTAY WILDER, the towering WBC heavyweight champion, is still looking for a challenger on September 26 and Poland’s Andrzej Wawrzyk looks like the frontrunner.
We understand that Britain’s talented but raw Hughie Fury’s team were offered the opportunity but turned it down, and Japan’s overrated (by the WBC, at least) Kyotaro Fujimoto has also been ruled out.
This leaves Wawrzyk leading the way in the race to take on Deontay Wilder who is seemingly readying himself for a far sterner test against mandatory contender Alexander Povetkin. Wawrzyk was No.31 in the WBC ratings earlier this year before he dropped out, but a recent win over the mighty Patryk Kowoll (a winner in three of his 18 contests) has seen Wawrzyk jump back into the sanctioning body’s rankings at No.21.
The WBC demand a challenger must be in the Top 15 to contend for their title, and with the September ratings due before Wilder’s next outing, it would not be a surprise to see the Pole hiked up the required six places.
Wawrzyk rebounded from a 2013 three-round hammering at the hands of Povetkin with wins over ageing Danny Williams and Frans Botha. Wilder, meanwhile, beat Bermane Stiverne for the title in January before having a tougher than expected, albeit entertaining, outing against little-known Eric Molina in June.
