Deontay Wilder is reportedly about to receive a handsome some of money for ‘stepping aside’ to allow the unification world title bout between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua to happen.

Indeed, the highly anticipated all-British encounter is close to being finalised, with the date and venue the only things yet to be decided upon according to AJ’s boxing promoter Eddie Hearn.

ESPN’s sports host Max Kellerman, however, believes that the Alabama boxer could be getting money for simply just waiting and allowing this mega fight to happen.

Speaking earlier this week, Kellerman said: “Don’t look too much into the contracts because Deontay Wilder has got to be paid to step aside.

“When you get step aside money when you’re next with a contract, it ain’t a hundred grand.

“It is five to ten million dollars. So Deontay is getting money for just waiting.”

‘The Bronze Bomber’ has not fought since his empathic defeat at the hands of Fury last February in Las Vegas and had been in line for a third fight with ‘The Gypsy King’.

There were, however, subsequent contract disputes with Team Fury believing that the rematch clause expired last October. What followed was a mediation process, which Wilder’s co-manager Shelly Finkel believed had not yet ended.

What Next for Wilder?

It is believed now, however, that Wilder will now look to fight someone who he has not yet encountered in the ring, with the likes of former champion Andy Ruiz Jr and Dillian Whyte being potentially considered as opponents.

The Dillian Whyte fight is certainly a match-up that WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman would like to see and believes could be a very exciting fight.

“Unfortunately we are not boxing promoters, we are not match-makers, but this could potentially be a very interesting fight.”

Whyte waited over 1,000 days as WBC mandatory challenger while Wilder held the title, but never received a shot before he suffered a loss against Alexander Povetkin late last year.

‘The Body Snatcher’ will have a chance to regain his WBC interim champion status if he beats the Russian heavyweight next weekend.

If he were to overcome Povetkin, then a bout with Wilder could potentially become an attractive proposition.

In addition, during an interview with Marcus Wilson, Wilder recently said: “I’d love to fight guys I haven’t fought, you know the ones at the top who I haven’t fought.

"I'm just going to go to the top and once you go to the top and it's someone I ain't fought, that's who I want to fight.

"I want to clean the division out, period."

If Whyte were to win next Saturday then he would certainly fall into that category and would certainly be another exciting bout for fans to look forward to this year.