DEONTAY WILDER'S next fight will be against Andy Ruiz Jr or a "mystery opponent", his trainer Malik Scott has confirmed.
The Bronze Bomber made his return to the ring by breezing past Robert Helenius with a first round knockout in October.
The bout was Wilder's first since brutally losing his trilogy fight to Tyson Fury 12 months earlier.
But his next opponent hasn't yet been confirmed.
Promoter Eddie Hearn recently held talks over a potential clash between Wilder and Anthony Joshua.
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But the long-awaited grudge match is not going to happen just yet.
That's because Scott revealed that AJ is out of the question and it's now down to Ruiz Jr and an unnamed fighter.
He told Best Sports Betting Canada: "It's down to the mystery opponent and Andy Ruiz Jr.
"Since AJ had made up his mind and does not want to fight Deontay right now, we're down to Andy Ruiz and the mystery guy.
"The mystery fighter is not as guaranteed to happen as the Ruiz fight.
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"If you're looking at it from the business perspective, it's most likely going to be the mandatory shot, Ruiz.
"It's looking like Ruiz, but in this game there's no telling as Deontay is big-time boxing. When you're big-time boxing, and as sad or as unfortunate it may sound to some people, mandatories don't mean nothing.
"Fighters have stepped aside to make big, big fights happen.
"This goes on in boxing, it's what the fans want or what makes business sense for the fighters and their team.
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"It's likely to be Ruiz but if not there are other negotiations going on as well."
When asked about a potential timeframe for Wilder's next fight, Scott added: "We could be going in March or early April but it really depends.
"The only thing I can say at the moment is Ruiz is mandated but Deontay is big-time boxing.
"When you have a big-time boxer like Deontay and a mandatory going on at the same time – and there's another bigger fighter – step a side happens some time, you never know.
"Business is willing to be made to make bigger fights happen."
