Wilder May Get Title Shot

Mauricio Sulaiman, President of the World Boxing Council (WBC) and advisor to Ready To Fight, has announced that former American heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) could potentially challenge for the WBC bridgerweight title (up to 101.6 kg) currently held by British champion Lawrence Okolie (20-1, 15 KOs).

"Lawrence Okolie is our champion, and he has a mandatory defense against interim champion Kevin Lerena. However, if Lawrence Okolie and Deontay Wilder reach an agreement, this fight can happen," Sulaiman said to World Boxing News.

Okolie responded to the WBC President's statement, saying, "I would be more than happy."

On June 1, Deontay Wilder suffered a fifth-round technical knockout defeat to Zhang Zhilei (27-2-1, 22 KOs). This marked Wilder's second consecutive loss and fourth in his last five bouts. Despite this, the American remains in the top 15 of the WBC rankings.

Lawrence Okolie last fought in April against Lukasz Rozanski (15-1, 14 KOs), winning by first-round technical knockout.