Deontay Wilder knocked out Eric Molina in the ninth round in June at sold-out Bartow Arena in Birmingham. (Nik Layman/Alabama NewsCenter)

WBC heavyweight boxing champion Deontay Wilder could make the second defense of his title in the same city in which he made his first defense.

A sold-out Bartow Arena in June shows the popularity of Deontay Wilder in Birmingham. (Nik Layman/Alabama NewsCenter)

Wilder’s co-manager Jay Deas told Alabama NewsCenter that the Tuscaloosa native will go back into the ring to defend his title on Sept. 26 in a bout that will be aired on NBC.

“That’s regular NBC, not NBC Net, not MSNBC but the actual primetime NBC,” Deas said, “That’s a huge step. That’ll put Deontay Wilder in more living rooms than he’s ever been in before.”

Details of the fight are still being hammered out. AL.com, citing sources, said the fight will be at Legacy Arena at the BJCC and that Wilder will take on Johann Duhaupas. Deas said the Frenchman is “in the mix.”

“It could be him,” the manager said. “That guy’s coming off the biggest win of his career. He beat world-ranked Manuel Charr” in April.

According to boxrec.com, Duhaupas is 32-2 and World Boxing Council’s No. 12-rated heavyweight. He last lost March 14 to Erkan Teper.

As for the location of the bout, Deas called Legacy Arena a great venue and one that his fighter “definitely wants to fight at.”

“I’m hopeful that everything will be finalized to the point in the next two to three days that we could have a press conference next week announcing everything,” Deas continued.  “Sept. 26 is fast approaching.”

Wilder knocked out Eric Molina in the ninth round in sold-out Bartow Arena in Birmingham in the first defense of his title since earning the championship in January. The champion is 34-0 with 33 knockouts.

See the video below to see what it meant for Birmingham to have Wilder defend his title the first time in the Magic City.

Deontay Wilder from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.