Wilder faces unbeaten Washington in 5th title defence.

WBC World heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) will defend his title against undefeated Californian Gerald Washington (18-0-1, 12 KOs) in the PBC main event on Saturday, February 25, at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
The replacement comes after the original opponent Andrzej Wawrzyk of Poland twice failed mandatory tests for an undisclosed banned substance..

Wilder was extremely disappointed when the news emerged of the drug test failures, but he is 100% happy with the replacement and the chance to return in front of his loyal Alabama fans..

The only blip on Gerald's record is a 2015 split decision draw with tough Amir Mansour, his last outing was last year, stopping Ray Austin in 4..

Washington is a reasonable opponent, but I'd rather have seen the promotion (Which features a heavyweight bout between Izu Ugono and Dominick Breazeale) switch Breazeale to the main event and place Gerald in with Ugono.    Breazeale showed the kind of courage needed in a previous challenge for Anthony Joshua's IBF title last year and in my opinion is far better equipped for the job.

This will be the fifth defence of the title for Wilder, who despite inactivity due to injuries, has proved a reasonably busy champion..  Wilder won the WBC title in January 2015..   Its unfortunate that this is the second time in a row Deontay has been forced to face a replacement opponent due to drug test failures..