WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder appears to be closing in on a deal to face Tyson Fury before the end of the year by multiple accounts. In a conversation with RingTV, Wilder says he supremely confident that he will reach a deal with Fury in order for this fight to happen.

“I believe 100 percent that this fight is going to happen and it’s going to get done,” said Wilder, 32. “We’re very, very close. Very, very close. Closer than Joshua and me could ever get in a lifetime. It’s definitely gonna happen, there’s no doubt. There’s just a little more work to be done.”

After echoing Fury’s sentiment about experiencing smooth negotiations thus far, unlike his long and drawn out negotiations with Anthony Joshua that ultimately went nowhere, Wilder suggests that a bout with Fury may even be just a better fight.

“This is going to be better than Joshua when it all boils down to it … and we know Tyson Fury, in many eyes, is still the champ, he hasn’t been defeated. He’s still undefeated. He’s still the lineal champion. Once I knock him off, I become that man who beat the man.”

Fury is currently scheduled to take on Francesco Pianeta on August 18, but by all accounts he should win that fight fairly comfortably should everything go according to plan. And if Fury doesn’t make good and take on Wilder, we’ll indeed be having a big heavyweight fight before the year is out — just not the one we might’ve been expecting.