Tyson Fury, the reigning WBC heavyweight champion, has not yet engaged in a match in the year 2023. As of now, he has not even arranged an opponent or established a boxing date, as discussions to fight Oleksandr Usyk fell through earlier this year.
Usyk, on the other hand, has been inactive for an even longer period. The Ukrainian fighter has not competed since his victorious rematch against Anthony Joshua in August.
Mauricio Sulaiman, the President of the WBC, expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in the heavyweight division and anticipates that the WBC will soon mandate a challenger for Fury.
Lack of title defenses has stagnated Heavyweight division according to Mauricio Sulaiman
If Anthony Joshua is designated as a mandatory challenger, Fury’s next bout could potentially be against him.
‘The Gypsy King,’ Tyson, is currently working towards securing his comeback to the boxing ring. Following his knockout victory over Derek Chisora in the tenth round of their trilogy bout in December, he put an end to their long-standing rivalry.
This win brought Fury a step closer to a unification match against Oleksandr Usyk. However, the plans for an April showdown at Wembley Stadium were abandoned in favor of a December event in Saudi Arabia. Regrettably, that fight has also failed to materialize thus far.
“We have to take some action. There are different options. I’m going to address this with the board of governors, because already we’re entering June and there’s no scenario.
Tyson Fury will make us proud and show who the WBC champion is… That’s a possibility [Joshua vs. Fury]. If Wilder and Ruiz are not fighting for the final elimination, Joshua’s right there at No 3. That’s possible.”
Fury’s challenger could be Anthony Joshua following Usyk talks broke down
Meanwhile, Tyson publicly challenged Anthony for a fight in September. Eddie Hearn swiftly acknowledged that they had barely engaged in discussions with Frank Warren and Fury’s team management. However, there is a possibility that the bout could take place through an alternative process.
Despite the WBC’s directive for Deontay Wilder to face Andy Ruiz in a crucial final eliminator to determine the mandatory challenger for the heavyweight title, that bout has also failed to materialize.
“That was announced since November,” Sulaiman said. “We’ve been patiently trying to do that. We didn’t push it in the hope that Fury would fight Usyk. So that was all the way to March [when the Fury-Usyk negotiations collapsed]. So we have to take some decisions.”
Nonetheless, Tyson has a few months left before that anticipated fight and has expressed his desire to compete prior to December. During this time, he has been associated with various names, such as Demsey McKean and Anthony Joshua.
Taking to social media, the heavyweight champion openly challenged Francis. ‘The Predator’ recently inked a deal with PFL, paving the path for a venture into boxing. Additionally, Fury and Ngannou have been linked together on numerous occasions.
What are your thoughts regarding this? Let us know in the comment section below.
