WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said the governing body will approve Deontay Wilder to fight for the bridgerweight championship.

The weight class, located between cruiserweight and heavyweight with a limit of 224 lbs, was established in 2020 and is recognized by the WBC and WBA.

Evgeny Tishchenko is the holder of the WBA title while Lawrence Okolie recently won the WBC title by knocking out Lukasz Rozanski in May.

Okolie has been ordered to defend his green and yellow belts against Kevin Lerena next but Sulaiman insists the winner of that fight could face Wilder if he submits a request to the WBC.

Sulaiman wrote on our love”.

Wilder held the WBC heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020 and could become a two-weight world champion if he wins the heavyweight crown.

Many fans are hoping to see ‘The Bronze Bomber’ retire after poor performances against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang in his last two outings, although he has yet to officially hang up his gloves.

Before his fifth-round knockout loss to Zhang earlier this month, former super middleweight world champion George Groves advised Wilder to move down to bridgerweight in pursuit of the title.

Groves told Sky Sports: “I think now is the time for him to take advantage of being world champion.

“There will be a lot of heavyweights with big names, guys who are not so big, people who will think ‘Can I win the heavyweight world championship in the near future?

‘Probably not, but I could be world champion if I face Lawrence Okolie’.

“I think, probably, Wilder is the type of guy who would say ‘I’m too big a name, I’m a former heavyweight world champion, I can’t see myself having a chance to fight for the heavyweight world championship in next time.

“‘But why not become a two-weight world champion by fighting at bridgerweight?'”

A fight with Okolie would be easy to come by as the Brit recently expressed interest in boxing Wilder following his win over Rozanski

“It’s always better when there are straps,” he told iFL TV.

“Obviously, he (Wilder) is the WBC heavyweight champion, he’ll probably want to fight for the WBC belt.”