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Deontay Wilder is a man with a plan.

Oh sure, he’s got a fight Saturday in which he’s set to defend his WBC claim to the heavyweight championship, but it’s what’s lined up for the subsequent 10 months that’s got him excited.

In fact, by the time this year becomes next, he’s expecting the trophy case to be far more crowded.

“2017 is definitely my time,” Wilder told CBS Sports. “We’re looking to unify the division and I feel very, very strongly about it. We’re looking forward to it. Whoever gets in my way will see real fast that I’m not playing and you must move once I come in with this force of what I’m trying to do.”

Wilder, now 31, became a world champion with a 12-round defeat of Bermane Stiverne in January 2015, making him the first American with a share of the big boy division’s crown since 2007.

The hoopla, however, has since been muffled by four less-than-fearsome challengers, two would-be matches KO’d by opponents failing drug tests and a rehab stint of his own prompted by multiple injuries.

Wilder suffered a broken right hand and torn right biceps on the way to stopping Chris Arreola in eight rounds last July, and this weekend’s meeting with unbeaten No. 8 WBC contender Gerald Washington in Birmingham, Alabama will be his first live action since surgeries to repair the dual damage. 

Nevertheless, he claims to have no real fear about stepping on the mended gas.

“You know what you’ve been through, you know how far you’ve come and you don’t want to go back down that road no more – especially with the rehab process,” he said. “So of course you feel a little tentative at first, but over time it goes away. As long as you program it out your mind. You’ve got to program it out your mind or you’ll still fear that same voyage and not want to throw that hand because you’re afraid that you’re going to break it. That’s one of the things that I haven’t had thoughts of.

“I keep an open mind with my hand and I trust in my team. I trust in my team of doctors that things are going to come out like they said. So far, so good. I can’t wait to get those small gloves on my hands and get back in there and give the fans what they want to see, and that’s knockouts.”

And that’s unifications, too.

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.”

The Wilder-Washington bout will headline a three-bout Fox card airing Saturday at 8 p.m.

The heavyweight match is preceded by a 154-pound championship encounter between highly-regarded contenders Tony Harrison and Jarrett Hurd, who’ll compete for the belt recently vacated when title-holder Jermall Charlo decided to move up to 160. Harrison, with one loss in 25 career fights, is ranked second by the IBF, while Hurd, unbeaten in 19 fights, is ranked third.

The Independent World Boxing Rankings, which list all fighters in a weight class regardless of what title belts they hold, have them slotted seventh and 16th, respectively.

Both men stand 6-foot-1 and possess pterodactyl-like wingspans of 76-1/2 inches – meaning they’re taller and have longer reaches than light heavyweight king Andre Ward, who’s 21 pounds heavier -- and they’ve combined for 33 KOs in their 43 victories.

Hurd arrives on the heels of a sixth-round stoppage of former welterweight title challenger Ionut Dan Ion in November, while Harrison was last active in July when he halted Siarhei Rabchanka in nine.

“I’ve got a lot of sparring rounds on this body, a lot of miles on the track on this body, and mentally, I just want to punch him,” Harrison said.

Heavyweights Dominic Breazeale and Izuagbe Ugonoh will open the televised card.

Wilder is a prohibitive main event favorite according to the numbers guys at the Bovada online sports book, where it’ll take a $1,600 wager to return a $100 profit on him, while a $100 outlay on Washington would return an $800 windfall for an upset. Meanwhile, in the 154-pound title fight, Hurd is a slight betting choice, requiring a $165 bet to return $100 while Harrison returns $135 for a $100 outlay.

Wilder is labeled third in the world at heavyweight by the aforementioned independent world rankings.

Washington is No. 32 in those rankings and has never beaten a foe ranked better than No. 62. Wilder, by contrast, is 7-0 against top-50 opponents – topped by a defeat of then-No. 6 Bermane Stiverne.

Ring Magazine ranks Wilder as the world’s No. 2 heavyweight contender behind its champion, Tyson Fury, and top contender Klitschko, while Washington is not included.

At 154 pounds, Hurd is slotted ninth by the magazine while Harrison is unranked.

“I am just here to fight. I am coming to get this,” Washington said. “Deontay Wilder is taking me seriously because I am coming. I am coming with everything I have got. I am working hard. I am training hard. I am preparing myself well. I am doing everything that I have got to do. I don’t care about none of that extra stuff. February 25th and that is it. I don’t have to explain nothing. All I know is I am working.”

How does Wilder win?

The champion’s brand has been built on his paralyzing punching power, and he’s managed to maintain an impressive KO output – going the distance just once in five title fights – while climbing the ladder from prospect to contender to title-holder. Against a foe like Washington, who’s not a particularly big hitter, he’ll have the confidence to press the fight and should be able to land big shots quickly.   

How does Washington win?

Those suggesting the ex-footballer has a legitimate shot are as much indicting Wilder as indicating any great faith in Washington. Nevertheless, the challenger will be a novelty because – at 6-foot-6 – he’ll stand nearly eye to eye with the 6-foot-7 Wilder, and if he’s able to elude early fireworks, he may have a chance to outwork a guy whose training camp was delayed by injury and stalled by opponent change.

Prediction: Wilder by knockout

The promoter is suggesting it’ll be more competitive than people expect and the challenger is saying all the right things about taking advantage of his title-shot opportunity.

But the reality is that Wilder didn’t even mention Washington’s name in a phone interview while laying out his unification agenda for the remainder of the year. That’s not an oversight, it’s the reality of a matchup in which only an injury or some other freakish occurrence seem likely to create a result other than a KO win for the champion in the initial half of the fight. For prediction’s sake, call it TKO 5.