Deontay Wilder‘s career has been full of dramatic ups and downs and it is not over yet.
The American is now 39 years old and has plenty of boxing miles on the clock. In all, he has had 48 fits and won 43 of them., Famously, 42 of those victories came by way of often savage one-punch knockout. However, his trilogy with Tyson Fury proved to be his undoing. After drawing the first contest, he was twice beaten in brutal fashion by the Brit, the last time being in 2021.
Since then he has had just three fights – one easy comeback win over Robert Helenius, then a points loss to Joseph Parker in December 2023 and a knockout loss at the hands of Zhilei Zhang in June of 2024.
JUST IN: Floyd Mayweather’s status as the Greatest of All Time gets a direct response from Roy Jones Jr.
Despite many in the sport calling for his retirement, Wilder recently confirmed he will fight on and his return will be staged on the BLK Prime network, slated for April.
Rumours began to circulate as to who may be the man in the opposite corner, with one name mentioned that of Stephan Shaw. Speaking to YSM Sports Media, Shaw revealed what he knows about being the next in line to face Wilder in April.
“I woke up one morning and they were just talking about the fight. This was a couple of weeks ago. I got a call and they were like, blah blah Wilder fight. Today, I see a blog run with this so I shared it because right now in my career I feel that’s a fight that would be perfect for me.”
Missouri’s Shaw has won 20 of his 22 fights since turning pro in 2013, with his only losses coming in 2023 against Martin Bakole’s next opponent Efe Ajagba and Joseph Goodall. He has shared many rounds in the gym with Wilder.
“I’ve sparred Deontay since 2017. I’ve been you could say his primary sparring partner, I’ve been part of every camp since he fought Gerald Washington till his last fight with Zhang. It’s a fight we would love to take but it’s all smoke and mirrors right now to be honest.”
Wilder was set to announce his comeback opponent this week, however the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles saw the press conference postponed. With that in mind, it appears Shaw won’t be the man to test if ‘The Bronze Bomber’ can still compete in the division.
