WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder says he is ready to fight Joseph Parker now and is more than happy to face the WBO champion in Auckland.
In an explosive interview with Radio Sport Breakfast, Wilder said it was time boxing got real about unifying the heavyweight division instead of boxers being continually positioned for pay days.
And the American has urged Parker's co-promoters Duco Events to pull out of finding another back-up to replace Hughie Fury, who quit the May 6 title challenge in Auckland citing a lower back injury.
Under the WBO orders, Parker must find someone on their top 15 heavyweight list, which would rule out Wilder for now. Duco is expected to announce today that Romanian Razvan Cojanu, ranked at 14 by the WBO, will replace Fury for the fight in Auckland.
In a no holds barred interview with Radio Sport, Wilder urged Duco to set up an immediate fight to unify the WBO and WBC belts. He repeated his plea for the winner of that fight to meet the winner of the Wladimir Klitschko-Anthony Joshua showdown at Wembley this weekend.