Deontay Wilder has a fight this weekend.
But he's also got far bigger things on his agenda than 6'6" Gerald Washington.
The WBC champion defends his share of the heavyweight division against the organization's No. 8 contender—a former football player at the University of Southern California—but he also manages to not mention the anonymous 34-year-old for long stretches in which he's far more willing to plot his course for the remainder of 2017.
"I'm a fighter. I love to fight," Wilder told Bleacher Report.
"This is what God has blessed me to do. I'm in love with it. I don't run from nobody. I'm not scared of no man. If anything, they fear me.
"This year is going to be the proof in the pudding right here. I don't like to do too much talking. I like my hands to do the talking for me. My team is well put together and we're all on the same accord when it comes to 2017.
"It's all about Deontay Wilder this year, and I'm looking to unify the division this year for sure."
A defeat of Washington would be the fifth defense of the belt Wilder won from Bermane Stiverne in January 2015. But in spite of the hoopla initially created by an American winning a heavyweight crown, he's largely stood still in terms of acclaim after wins over the less-than-fearsome likes of Eric Molina (KO 9), Johann Duhaupas (TKO 11), Artur Szpilka (KO 9) and Chris Arreola (TKO 8).
A match with a higher-profile foe, Alexander Povetkin, collapsed after the Russian failed a drug test last spring, and Wilder earned a $5 million civil judgement earlier this month after suing the would-be challenger's team. Then, the initial opponent for Saturday's fight, Andrzej Wawrzyk, dropped out after failing a drug test of his own.
In between, Wilder spent some time on the shelf recovering from surgery after he suffered a broken right hand and a torn right biceps in the July 16 defeat of Arreola.
Now that he's recovered, the stops and starts have created a palpable sense of urgency.
"It got so bad for me where I had to talk to God about it," he said. "One time I was sitting on my bed and I talked to God and I asked him, 'Why am I always missing out on the big fight? Why?' Certain things are not in my hands, but the thing I got out of it is him letting me know my time's coming. 'Stay patient, Deontay. I haven't let you down all your life and I'm not going to do it now.'
"I know that everything comes in the right time. It doesn't come when I want it, but when it comes, it's the right time. I've had to understand that, and by me understanding that, it leads me to be a patient champion—to wait my turn. 2017 is definitely my time."
By the time this year becomes next, he's expecting a far more crowded trophy case.
Toward that end, Wilder is proposing an agenda that would yield four more belts by the end of 2017. He's placed WBO champion Joseph Parker at the top of his post-Washington wish list, followed by the winner of April's IBF/IBO/WBA title bout between Anthony Joshua and former champ Wladimir Klitschko.
"I just have my remote control as if I was the remote-control car," he said.
"I'm going to guide myself to each and every fight. After this fight, I'm looking to go after Joseph Parker. I'm going after that belt. I may have a mandatory after that. Whoever it may be, I'm going to get rid of him and, at the end of the year, I'm looking to have the winner of Joshua and Klitschko, if they still have the belt at that time. That's how my year is going to go."
Parker, a New Zealander, won the vacant WBO crown two months ago and is expected to defend on April 1 against Hughie Fury, the cousin of now-former champ Tyson Fury.
Wilder expects Parker to retain the belt and enable a subsequent match for the WBC and WBO title claims. Joshua and Klitschko will fight four weeks after Parker and Fury in London, and Wilder said he's making plans to be there—or to be watching if he stays stateside.
He's forecasting a Klitschko win, even though the challenger—who lost his belt collection to Tyson Fury in late 2015—will be 41 years old and coming off a 17-month layoff on fight night.
Joshua, who was seven years old when Klitschko turned pro, is now 27.
"I really don't think that they've prepared Joshua for a Klitschko fight," Wilder said.
"Definitely Father Time is at his door, but Klitschko is still a smart guy, and he's still a dangerous fighter. We all know that, in boxing, styles make fights. I think their styles both complement each other very, very well, and you're going to see a great fight. I think Klitschko is very confident in this fight, just because Joshua lacks experience. He knows that he hasn't fought anyone to be prepared for that level."
Nevertheless, he said, the attraction of a Joshua fight outweighs a summit with Klitschko.
A champ since erasing Charles Martin in less than five minutes, Joshua has since defended twice while fighting only 10 rounds—including a three-round dispatch of a foe (Eric Molina) who had lasted nine with Wilder—and signed a lucrative deal making Showtime the exclusive carrier of his fights to the United States.
Overall, he's stopped all 18 of the opponents he's faced, has gone past three rounds just twice and is labeled as a clear favorite over Klitschko in spite of mammoth deficits in years fought (20 to three), rounds fought (358 to 44) and championship fights (28 to three).
"That's what the fans are craving for and that's what they're hollering now for, a Joshua and Wilder fight," Wilder said.
"When you see two tall guys (Wilder, at 6'7", is an inch taller), two athletic guys, nice builds, people want to see that. They want to see two guys that seem like they're in shape to fight. So I think that would be the biggest fight that the fans would want to see."
Klitschko defended his IBO and IBF heavyweight titles 18 times from 2006 to 2015—trailing only Joe Louis and Larry Holmes—and picked up the WBA and WBO belts along the way as well before losing the cache to Fury.
It was the Ukrainian's first loss since 2004 and just the fourth of a 68-fight career, but Wilder suggested the blemish tarnished the Klitschko brand enough to make Joshua the superior attraction.
And, as a result, the main course for the year-long feast.
"They kind of discredit (Klitschko) a little as far as being the biggest fight for me," he said. "The Joshua and Deontay Wilder fight definitely would be the best, especially if he pulls off a win against Klitschko. Then they'll definitely demand it. It'll be a fight that must happen immediately, the demand will be so high.
"This year is all about unification. That's how I want this year to go. I think that's how it's going. Everybody's on course. Everybody's on the grid. My team's ready. We're just making sure that my opponents' teams are on the same page as us and we can make big fights happen."