The WBC heavyweight champion’s next fight is up in the air, but believes a return to the ring against Fury is still possible

Deontay Wilder received quite a shock on Monday morning, waking up to learn Tyson Fury had signed with a new promoter.

The Brit announced a surprise co-promotional deal with Top Rank/ESPN on Monday, seemingly throwing their rematch into jeopardy due to the conflict between Fury’s new men and Wilder’s representatives – Al Haymon’s PBC/Showtime and FOX.

3 Tyson Fury’s fight with Deontay Wilder ended in a controversial draw

However, Wilder took another view, telling ThaBoxingVoice: “If anything, it makes the fight better, it don’t hurt the fight.

“If anything it hurts the other competition with Joshua, that Fury’s signing with ESPN. He [Joshua] is with DAZN, it don’t really affect me.

“At the end of the day, if he wants to fight, then he’s gonna fight. If not, then we’ll move onto the next one. We have enough guys in the stable that we can fight for the next two years.

“When it comes to America, there’s only one American that’s dominant and that’s Deontay Wilder.”

3 Fury and Wilder played out an absolute classic back in December

In recent years, Deontay Wilder has been aligned with Al Haymon’s PBC who have deals with US broadcasters Showtime and FOX.

Despite this, the WBC heavyweight champion clarified that he has not signed any long-term deals with anyone.

When asked if he would consider going over to ESPN for the Fury rematch, Wilder replied: “Of course, it’s always where the money is, is gonna be right.

“I’m a free agent, I can fight anyone, I don’t necessarily have to fight on the networks that I’m on, I can fight anywhere.

“The rematch is still on the table for him if he wants it. If he don’t may God be with him.”

Getty 3 Dillian Whyte is in Deontay Wilder’s sights as a possible alternative opponent

May 18 is the target date for Wilder vs Fury II, and that’s the date for the American’s next fight regardless of the opponent.

If the rematch doesn’t happen, Wilder stated: “We’re doing our own thing, we’re still gonna have that date. Who knows who it’s gonna be?

“It could be [Dominic] Breazeale, it could be [Adam] Kownacki, it could be [Dillian] Whyte.”

Next Fight Night on talkSPORT James DeGale vs Chris Eubank Jr is live on talkSPORT, February 23 from the O2 Arena, featuring Joe Joyce and Lee Selby on an impressive undercard. Don’t miss it!

You can watch the full ThaBoxingVoice show with Deontay Wilder below.