Burbank’s Washington looks for WBC title upset against Wilder

On roughly one month’s notice, Gerald Washington took on far and away the greatest challenge of his boxing career and the greatest opportunity.

Washington, who trains under John Pullman at Pullmans Boxing Gym in Burbank, will challenge knockout king Deontay Wilder for the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship on Saturday, live on FOX beginning at 5 p.m., from the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

Wilder (37-0, 36 knockouts) is a mammoth 20-1 favorite against the 34-year-old Washington (18-0-1, 12 KOs), a 6-foot-6 former USC football player.

Wilder, 31, was originally scheduled to defend his title against Andrzej Wawrzyk, who tested postive for steroids. Washington was subsequently bestowed with a championship opportunity.

“This felt like destiny. It’s my time,” Washington told ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael. “We’re very excited for the opportunity. Man, it’s a dream come true and I look forward to fighting Deontay Wilder in his backyard for the WBC title. It’s an amazing opportunity for me and we are ready to take the challenge on.”

Washington is likely to have very few believing he can pull off the upset, which would be a boxing shocker as Wilder is seen as one of the greatest North American heavyweights in some time and, perhaps, a burgeoning draw in the weight class long absent in the USA. Even so, his trainer believes the unbelievable will happen in Wilder’s home state of Alabama.

“Everything had to play out perfectly for us to get this shot,” Pullman told Rafael. “You can’t argue with destiny. We didn’t expect it to happen like this, but our team culture is to always stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready.

“The major separation between Deontay Wilder and Gerald is that Gerald is the smarter fighter. He knows how to adapt and it’s going to make a big difference in this fight. Gerald is going to win this fight. How he wins, I don’t like to say and put any unnecessary pressure on us. But all I can say is, he’s going to win.”