Deontay Wilder is coming to Ireland!

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder is coming to Ireland.

The American star will be ringside in Belfast on Saturday August 18th for the Carl Frampton v Luke Jackson card at Windsor Park football stadium.

Alabama’s Wilder [40(39)-0 will be in town to co-commentate for BT Sport on Tyson Fury‘s non-title undercard bout versus Francesco Pianeta

Event promoter Frank Warren revealed the special guest yesterday.

The veteran London told IFL that “Deontay’s coming in for the show, he’s coming.”

“I’m hoping he’s going to be there, he’ll be commentating for BT.”

Wilder’s visit is to help promote a potential title defence versus former unified champion Fury.

This week it emerged that former Irish champion Fury [26(19)-0] and Wilder are allegedly close to agreeing a deal for a December clash in Las Vegas.

The news came as a surprise to many, with Wilder having been in protracted, exhausting negotiations for a undisputed unification with WBA-IBF-WBO champ Anthony Joshua.

No deal has been reached or contracts signed for a Wilder-Fury fight but Warren revealed that “we’re very close to getting it done.”

“Obviously Tyson’s got to win his fight on the Belfast show on [August] 18th, he’s got to come through that. If he comes through that I believe we’ll be in a position for that fight [Wilder] to happen.”

Wilder won the WBC title back in January 2015 and has since defended it seven times, most recently against Cuban dangerman Luis Ortiz.

Fury famously dethroned Wladimir Klitschko in Germany in November 2015, winning the WBO, WBA, and IBF titles but would suffer a nightmare two years of problems outside the ring afterwards..

With his IBF belt stripped and WBA and WBO belts vacated, Fury eventually returned to the ring in June with a facile win over Sefer Seferi and continues his comeback and road to full fitness and sharpness versus former title challenger Pianeta.

Most had expected the Manchester-born fighter to have a number of progressive comeback bouts before taking on a major name but a clash with the nuclear-punching Wilder looks to be on the cards.

Since returning, ‘The Gypsy King’ has been installed at #7 in the WBC’s rankings.

An appearance from Wilder would certainly serve to increased the hype and promotion of the card.

Frampton headlines, defending his WBO interim belt versus Australian Luke Jackson while Paddy Barnes challenges WBC flyweight champion Cristofer Rosales.

Also set to appear are Luke Keeler, Lewis Crocker, Sean McComb, Steven Donnelly, and Marco McCullough, while Steven Ward and Stevie Collins Jr clash for the BUI Celtic light heavyweight title

Watch Frank Warren’s interview with IFL TV in full below: