Deontay Wilder To Have Surgery on Hand, Return Eyed For Mid-2022
BY
BOXINGSCENE STAFF
Published Tue Oct 12, 2021, 04:22 PM EDT
Shelly Finkel, co-manager of former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, says his boxer undergo surgery on the injury that he suffered to his hand on Saturday night.
Wilder, 35-years-old, was knocked out in the eleventh round of his trilogy fight with Tyson Fury at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
It was Wilder's first bout since the seven round TKO defeat at the hands of Fury in their February 2020 rematch.
Finkel expects Wilder to return by the midway point of 2022.
"Deontay broke his right hand behind the third knuckle and he has to have that fixed next week," Finkel told The Sun.
"He has to have surgery, the knuckle is OK, it’s the bone behind the knuckle that broke. He’s sore but he was OK, he was home yesterday.
“He’s healing and at this point, if everything is OK, after the hand surgery he’ll probably look to enter the ring mid next year, like April or May."
Wilder's return is no surprise, after head trainer Malik Scott recently revealed that his boxer has no intention of retiring.
"Deontay has set his family financially secure so he doesn't have to fight to make a living," Scott told IFL TV.
"But retiring is not in his plans at all and not something we've discussed. He will be back in any form he wants to be. He's a big-time fighter and he doesn't belong down there with the other guys, he needs to be in high-level fights and main events.
" Deontay Wilder was great on Saturday, but Tyson Fury was even greater - it was a great night of boxing for the heavyweight division. You have to give Fury credit for having a good chin and getting up. Fury is a legend and one of the best in the heavyweight division in any era, and it's the same about Deontay."