Deontay Wilder will not be fighting Anthony Joshua next, but he has told Sky Sports that the undisputed fight is inevitable.
The heavyweight division, often a warped landscape, was thrown into chaos this week when it was announced Jarrell Miller, scheduled to tackle Anthony Joshua on June 1, live on Sky Sports Box Office, had recorded an 'adverse finding' in a drugs test.
- 'AJ opponent confirmed next week'
- Miller denies taking banned substance
- Miller denied licence to fight AJ
Subsequently suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission, Miller's imminent date with Joshua is seemingly thwarted with a ton of potential candidates stating their case to replace the volatile Brooklynite.
Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce, Manuel Charr, and Adam Kownacki are a handful of names dragged through boxing's rumour mangle in the days since the Miller's situation was announced.
But the man who everyone wants to see Joshua fight, WBC world champion Deontay Wilder, has not been mentioned as he prepares for a May 18 defence against fellow American, Dominic Breazeale, live on Sky Sports.
Although he will not be in the opposite corner of AJ this summer, Wilder is insistent that the fight is destined to happen.
"Believe me, this fight is going to happen," roared a jovial Wilder from his Alabama training camp hours after the Miller bombshell dropped.
"There will come a day, a day real soon, when there can only be one.
"The heavyweight division belongs to me and I've known that for a very long time now, but I'm not satisfied with what I've achieved so far.
"I want every single belt, I want to be the undisputed champion, and I want the day to come when there can only be one king and that man will be Deontay Wilder."
After entertaining boxing's masses throughout 2018 with stunning performances against Cuban dangerman Luis Ortiz and lineal champion Tyson Fury, Wilder's stock rose at an astronomical rate as he went all out to prove Americans have a heavyweight to make them proud.
His victory over Ortiz was achieved in dramatic circumstances following a scare in the middle rounds, and when it appeared he was running out of lives against Fury, Wilder found a stunning right hand to drop the Englishman and escape from LA's Staples Centre with a split decision draw.
Finally earning respect after years of obtaining negative reviews, Wilder remains desperate to further enhance his reputation and that involves a fight with Joshua.
"It's the fight that sets me apart from everybody else. I've fought and hurt every single person that's been in the ring with me and still they still want questions answered.
"Bermane Stiverne, Alexander Povetkin, Luis Ortiz, and Tyson Fury. I've proven time and time again that I will fight any heavyweight, but when it's as big as me and Joshua then it has to be right.
"Fury don't want to fight me no more. He doesn't want to feel my power no more.
"I'm learning this business as I go on and I know what me and Joshua means to the sport of boxing.
"The fight will happen one day, and you'll see that I was right all along when they give me my roses and I get to smell them."