Deontay Wilder’s career would effectively over if he loses to Tyson Fury again, according to WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman.
Wilder suffered the first defeat of his professional career in Las Vegas in February when Fury put in a dominant performance to win via seventh-round TKO.
The pair – who had earlier fought to a thrilling draw in Los Angeles in December 2018 – were slated to meet again in July but that has now been rescheduled for October due to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sulaiman says the delay should benefit Wilder as he bids to bounce back from that devastating February loss, but admits everything is at stake for the American.
He told the Black Eye Barber Shop Show: “I don’t know if July 18 was a real date. I thought it was quite soon for Wilder to go back immediately to camp after being knocked out the way he was knocked out.
“Go back to camp and recover mentally and physically from such a… I mean, to be undefeated, five years world champion and then boom. It’s a very difficult task to recover mentally, plus physically. But I think this delay is going to help Wilder, in my opinion.
“He’s very well. He’s a warrior, he’s a monster and he’s got tremendous motivation. You have to understand what a fighter goes through, in life, before going into their glory days. Every fighter is a story for a movie.
“What Wilder went through with his daughter. There were so many days when he didn’t know if he was going to be able to provide medicine and food for her. He had lost his mother and seen his father crying. All these things are very powerful and that creates a very strong character for every boxer.
He lost and he knows he lost. He only has everything to win, nothing more to lose. If he loses again it’s ok, because he already lost. All that he has is to go and make it and win, otherwise his career is over.”
