Tyson Fury solidified his greatness when disposing of Deontay Wilder for a second consecutive time last month. But with heavyweight glory achieved, rumours have naturally steered towards speculating who the pound-for-pound number one will face next.
Back-to-back knockouts over the world’s most feared knockout artist in heavyweight boxing kept the WBC heavyweight strap around the waist of Tyson Fury. Boxing enthusiasts and Fury himself hoped that Anthony Joshua would meet him for a title unification bout.
However, Oleksandr Usyk spoiled the party when defeating Joshua for his WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles, therefore putting the all-British heavyweight clash on hold.
The latest news is that Joshua has activated his rematch clause to face Usyk again, likely to occur next spring. So, the hopes of a unification bout for Fury have been dashed, leaving a possible opponent in Dillian Whyte – the 33-year-old WBC heavyweight mandatory challenger.
Whyte was scheduled to face Otto Wallin on October.30, but a cancellation due to a shoulder injury adds further speculation to an official opponent for the Gypsy King.
With rematches, injuries, and court cases stunting Fury’s next big fight, we may not see Fury back in the ring until next summer. With that said, Fury doesn’t want to wait around, especially when Wilder’s arbitration case took over a year.
“I thought I was going to be fighting Dillian Whyte. I don’t know what he’s doing with his own private life with the WBC,” Fury told the press.
“He’s got a course case going on, which can be s*** really because I know how long arbitrations go on for. It took 18 months to get mine sorted with Deontay Wilder, so I hope he doesn’t get caught in the long grass, and I hope I don’t have to fight somebody else like a volunteer.
“I’m not interested in waiting for people. I’ve gotta do what I’ve got to do. I’ll be fighting in February or early March at the latest. I’ll be defending my WBC championship, and that’s it.
“I’ll take the little cruiserweight guy (Usyk) and show how to give a small man a good hiding,” Fury continued. “I’ll run him over. He’s too small. I am definitely fighting in February or early March 1 million percent. There are no ifs, no buts, or maybes about it, or I will sack my entire promotional outfit, and I’ll promote myself. Gypsy King Promotions.
“Who my next opponent is, I just don’t give a damn because the outcome will always be the same. I will win, and I will knock the motherf***** out because that’s how I do it now.”
The good news from Fury’s comments is that we shouldn’t have to wait for Whyte, should his arbitration case take longer than expected. Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum made it known that Fury would ideally face Usyk and unify the heavyweight championships. Still, as mentioned, Joshua’s rematch clause isn’t going to allow that to happen.
Whyte doesn’t like Fury’s eagerness to fight Usyk, as he let his thoughts known to Sky Sports: “He will try to fight Usyk because Usyk is a much easier fight for him.
“Fury has been mandated to fight me twice. He asked for the WBC ‘Diamond’ belt to fight me but ran away when they agreed. He keeps making excuses.
“Hopefully, now he’s got no choice. What’s he going to do? Throw the belt in the bin and run away from more money than he got to fight Wilder?
“He said he was going to fight me after he beat Wilder, then he ran away. Let’s see what he does.”
Does it make a difference who Fury faces? The 31-0-1 (22 KOs) undefeated champion of the world has never been the betting underdog, and for a good reason. The bookmaker’s odds are going to favour Fury whether he fights Usyk, Whyte, Joshua, or any other challenger on the roster; the only significant way to raise betting value when backing Fury is to utilize a DraftKings promo code because he’s that damn good.
Last month the WBC stated that Fury and Usyk have 30 days to agree on discussions or else Fury would be forced to face the WBC interim champion, Whyte.
Despite this rule and deadline expiring, Arum told the press: “The alternative is that if Joshua decides not to exercise his rematch against Usyk and decides to step aside, the fight we would like to make is between Usyk and Fury.”