Deontay Wilder could defend his belt against Vyacheslav Glazkov in January

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs ) is already scheduled to make a voluntary defense of his title on Jan. 16th in Brooklyn, NY, but his opponent has not yet been finalized. There are, however, ongoing discussions for Wilder to take on Wladimir Klitschko's mandatory challenger in Vyacheslav "Czar" Glazkov (21-0-1, 13 KOs) on this date. Egis Klimas, who manages Glazkov, talks about the potential fight with ESPN:

"We would love that fight. It looks like (Glazkov) is one of the opponents they're looking at," he said. "I have nothing writing, no contract yet. So I don't know if it will happen or not happen. We need to see something in writing, but (Main Events promoter) Kathy (Duva) told me what's going on and that they are talking. But as far as the fight goes, of course, we would love that fight."

So although Glazkov, a native of the Ukraine, is already in line for a title shot with Klitschko, that fight is still potentially months away as Klitschko is set to take on Tyson Fury in his next outing. Therefore, Glazkov would much rather get his title shot now in what his teams perceives to be a much easier fight with Wilder.

The WBC, though ordering Wilder to fight mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin, will allow Wilder to make another voluntary defense since Povetkin just fought and won't be ready by January. From a business perspective, with Wilder already scheduled to go in New York, Glazkov makes all the sense in the world as they would hope to capitalize on the large local Ukrainian population in the area.