Deontay Wilder
On January 26, 2017, Washington became a front runner to land a fight against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 25 on Fox. This came after Wilder's original opponent for the fight, Polish boxer Andrzej Wawrzyk, tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid, during testing for the WBC's Clean Boxing Program. The fight was officially confirmed on January 30, 2017. Washington released a statement following the announcement, "I'm very happy to get this opportunity to fight for my first world championship. I know that I'll be fighting Deontay Wilder in his backyard, but that adds more excitement ... I'm looking forward to going to Birmingham and coming away with a victory just like I did in my last fight there."