Deontay Wilder on course to fight Johann Duhaupas next

Jody McCormack, interim CEO of the Alabama Athletic Association, said Monday that Wilder’s team has filed paperwork to fight September 26 in the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

Duhaupas, 32-2(20) is the frontrunner to be announced as Wilder’s second WBC title challenger, however. His biggest win was a majority decision over Manuel Charr in April.

Wilder, of course, made the first defense of his title in June by stopping a game Eric Molina in Round 9 in the former’s native Alabama.

Waiting in the wings is Russia’s WBC silver champion Povetkin, who is due to face fellow Wladimir Klitschko victim Mariusz Wach in Kazan on November 4 aiming to cement his claims to a shot at Wilder.

The saving grace of this fight will be if this is truly just a tune-up for Wilder to take on Alexander Povetkin, the top-ranked WBC contender and mandatory challenger.

AL.com first reported the fight. An official announcement as well as more details of the fight will be released at a news conference on Thursday at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

Wilder is undefeated, with a 34-0 record, 33 of which were knock outs.

The fight will be televised on NBC’s “Premier Boxing Championship Series”. That fight was held at the smaller Bartow Arena.