It was unclear as to whether or not Deontay Wilder would compete again.
Wilder last competed in June of 2024 when he faced Zhilei Zhang in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A fifth-round TKO loss for Wilder would mean that his record in his last five would be 1-4.
The ‘Bronze Bomber’ suffered his first professional loss in 2020 in a rematch with Tyson Fury, and has not been able to recapture his form since.
Now 39 years old, speculation regarding the fighter’s retirement had spread. However, the 43-4-1 boxer may still have more fuel in the tank to compete in boxing.
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Deontay Wilder set for 2025 return
Reported by Manouk Akopyan, Deontay Wilder will return to the boxing ring in April. His comeback fight is set to take place on BLK Prime, with no opponent confirmed as of yet.
According to Akopyan, both Wilder and his manager, Shelley Finkel, will announce the opponent to the media on Saturday, in Los Angeles.
Despite his losses to Fury, Wilder was still considered a top contender in the division. Following up his second Fury loss, Wilder earned a first-round knockout victory over Robert Helenius, making a route to the title seemed visible.
Given the opportunity to compete for the WBC and WBO inter-continental heavyweight titles, Wilder would meet Australia’s Joseph Parker. A win would set up a monumental bout with Anthony Joshua, however, Wilder could not get the victory.
The bout very much went in the favor of Parker, who was a clear winner on all three judges’ scorecards.
Not only missing out on the Joshua fight, Wilder’s loss to Zhang would push him further away from a title opportunity while edging towards his 40th birthday.
This means that a bout in April will be significantly impactful on the final moments of Wilder’s career.
Retired champion shows interest in Deontay Wilder bout
Former champion Shannon Briggs has expressed interest in facing Deontay Wilder.
Briggs, 53, last competed professionally in 2016. However, ‘The Cannon’ has been showing interest in coming out of retirement. Briggs even reignited his feud with Wladimir Klitschko amid rumors of the Ukranian returning.
However, Wilder has been another name mentioned by Briggs in terms of potential opponents.
Speaking about a potential meeting with Wilder, Briggs told FightHubTV, “I’d like to fight him, I think it would be a great fight in Alabama when he comes back…I haven’t really retired, they just won’t fight me… I think I’m going to fight in March so if he wants to go, we go.”
Briggs’ last fight took place in the O2 Arena in London, England. The American took on fighter Emilio Ezequiel Zarate, whom he beat via first-round knockout.