When Andrzej Wawrzyk failed a test for performance enhancing drugs and was pulled from a title shot against Deontay Wilder in 2017, Washington stepped in. The fight was close on the scorecards after four rounds, but Wilder viciously stopped him in the fifth. Washington has gone 3-5 since then, failing to make it to the final bell against Jarrell Miller, Adam Kownacki, Charles Martin and Ali Eren Demirezen, and losing a decision to Derek Chisora in 2023.
