The current WBC champion Deontay Wilder announced he has ‘signed’ a contract to fight Luis Ortiz.’

 The American tweeted to say he had signed for a rematch against the man he beat in March 2018 and boxing fans think he is simply ducking Anthony Joshua.

Wilder beat Ortiz in their first fight in New York last year, knocking the Cuban out in the 10th round to inflict his only professional defeat.

His previous fight was a first-round knockout of Dominic Breazeale to record the ninth-straight defense of his WBC title.

Joshua, who fights Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden on 1 June, recently spoke about wanting face-to-face talks with Wilder to finally arrange a meeting in the ring.

The WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion, clearly frustrated with the failed attempts from promoters and broadcasters to engineer the clash.

At the start of May, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn revealed Ortiz had been offered $7m to fight the Brit in New York when he was looking for a replacement for Jarrell Miller, who was kicked off the card for failing a drug test.