Deontay Wilder has dismissed any talk of retirement as he eyes a fight with Francis Ngannou.

Wilder is not in the best form of his career. Deontay has only won one fight in his last four since working with Malik Scott. He has suffered two losses in a row, losing to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. He suffered a unanimous decision defeat against Parker, only winning a single round, which prevented the Anthony Joshua fight from going ahead. Wilder sought to bounce back when he faced Zhang. However, things did not go his way, as he was knocked out in the fifth round.

That suggested he could retire since the 39-year-old is no closer to a title shot. He also entered boxing to earn a significant amount of money for his daughter, who has the rare disease called Spina Bifida. The three fights with Tyson Fury have secured Wilder’s financial future, raising suggestions that he is no longer motivated to fight. However, Wilder said that he would now focus on returning to face Ngannou.

Wilder On Ngannou

“The best is yet to come, I always say that. We’re still going, we’re still here, you know what I mean we just getting things together man. I’m just handling a lot of things, I had a lot of outside distractions that I had to get rid of. Even since I’ve been off and stuff like that, it’s been a lot of offers coming in, a lot of things, different countries and stuff like that and even with Francis,” Wilder said

Reports indicated that Wilder was in talks to face Ngannou before the latter decided to box Tyson Fury. This would have been in a two-fight deal. One of those bouts would have been in MMA, whilst the other would have been in boxing. Wilder may fancy his chances based on Ngannou’s last boxing performance. Joshua knocked him out in the second round, ending the early optimism he had shown in his boxing career when he lost a split decision against Fury.

Wilder’s Injury

Ngannou has bounced back to winning ways, beating Renan Ferreira on his PFL debut with a first-round stoppage. Wilder also clarified that his poor performances were due to an injury. He revealed that he had broken his arm before the Parker and Zhang fights, something he had not been aware of. After the Zhang loss, he was spotted with a sling on his arm, which may explain why his right hand and jab were missing for large parts of those fights.

“I broke my arm way back in November some time. I didn’t know. [And] I had two tears on my shoulder. I could feel the pain. I just thought it was old injuries. But I got an MRI [recently] and everything was [messed] up there. I didn’t know because I’ve got a high tolerance of pain,” Wilder said

If that is the case, then Wilder will fancy his chances. The Ngannou fight offers him the chance to earn a big purse. Reports indicated Ngannou made $20 million for fighting Joshua, while it was $10 million for facing Fury. Wilder will be able to command at least the same, making it a lucrative bout.

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