Deontay Wilder
Wilder is desperate to unify the heavyweight division, a feat not managed in nearly 20 years Getty Images

Deontay Wilder has promised to make an "example" out of upcoming opponent Luis Ortiz when the pair face off at the Barclays Center in New York on 3 March.

'The Bronze Bomber' will be putting his belt on the line against the undefeated Cuban, who caused the hotly-anticipated fight to be postponed by four months after he tested positive for two banned substances.

Ortiz was fortunate to avoid a ban for failing a drugs test and have his fight with Wilder rearranged, but the 32-year-old, whose hopes of facing Anthony Joshua were significantly dashed by promoter Eddie Hearn's suggestion that 'AJ' could go toe-to-toe with Jarrell Miller, is preparing to do away with 'King Kong' and send a message to the rest of the heavyweight division against the 38-year-old, who is widely seen as the toughest opponent of Wilder's career so far.

"Luis Ortiz you about to go down," Wilder said, per Sky Sports. "I'm going to use you as an example for the rest of them.

"People say you got skill, people say you got will, they say you King Kong, the boogeyman as well. All of these things they relay you as, but the Bronze Bomber is going to beat your a**."

Ortiz's failed drugs test delayed Wilder in his quest to become the first undisputed champion of the heavyweight division since Lennox Lewis.

The Cuban, who warned his upcoming opponent that he must back up his words in the ring in 10 days time, will no doubt prove to be tougher to break down than the rather shoddy defence put up by Bermane Stiverne in November.

Despite his sorry drugs episode Ortiz will finally get in the ring and contest Wilder's WBC belt unlike Alexander Povetkin, whose title fight with the American was called off after he tested positive for meldonium in April 2016.

Wilder later sued Povetkin over the cancellation of the fight and was awarded $5m in a civil trial which found the Russian guilty of ingesting meldonium after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned fighters from using the drug - the same substance which led to tennis player Maria Sharapova being banned for 15 months - which improves blood flow and all-round endurance.