Regardless of the result on Saturday night against Oleksandr Usyk, two-time heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has plenty of options for his next fight
Regardless of the result on Saturday night against Oleksandr Usyk, two-time heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has plenty of options for his next fight Regardless of the result on Saturday night against Oleksandr Usyk, two-time heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has plenty of options for his next fight
Tyson Fury appears to be leaning towards a trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk should he level the series at one apiece tonight.
After suffering the first defeat of his professional career back in May, the ‘Gypsy King’ will be itching to exact his revenge. In the early stages of the first encounter, the 36-year-old seemed to be running away with it. However, the key moment came after the midway point.
Usyk hurt Fury in the eighth round before nearly knocking him out in the ninth – with only the ropes keeping the Brit up. From then, the ‘Gypsy King’ failed to regain any sort of momentum and eventually suffered a defeat on points. Despite turning 37 in August, it seems as if the British star has already mapped out his future and is planning on sticking around for a little longer.
Providing he wins on Saturday, Fury has confirmed that he will face his Ukrainian rival for a third time. “When I win on Saturday night, I think there’s got to be a trilogy next year for sure,” Fury told Al Arabiya. “Joshua’s in tatters at the moment. He has got to pick up the pieces from his last fight. But the fight with Usyk – one on Saturday and the one afterwards – would be fantastic for me.”
Fury’s comments were also backed up by his promoter, Frank Warren – who has confirmed that a trilogy fight between the two giants is ‘contracted.’ When asked whether a trilogy bout between Fury and Usyk ‘trumps’ potential fights with Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, Warren told Boxing News: “Oh it does because it’s contracted. And whatever happens, that would be the case if Tyson wins… providing nobody retires.”
While the ‘Gypsy King’ was quick to discredit Joshua this week, he has opened the door to a potential all-British showdown with ‘AJ.’ Speaking to Sky News, he said: “I feel sorry for him at the minute, being cleaned out in the last fight in five rounds, so he’ll have to do that again – or not – and then decide his future.
“When an adversary loses, and it’s not to you, you do feel down and depressed about it. I felt sad for him. It was sad to see a worthy opponent lose his crown. I’d still fight him whether he’s got five losses, 10 losses or 20. It’s not important because, at this stage of our careers, it’s about having good fights. I think it would still be an entertaining and interesting fight for the paying pundit.”
Learn more
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are set to lock horns again on December 21 with the Brit attempting to avenge his defeat by the Ukrainian in May. Victory for Fury could also set up a huge domestic showdown with bitter rival Anthony Joshua next year
According to Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, ‘AJ’ is targeting Fury or Daniel Dubois as the opponent for his next fight. “From our side we’ve got Anthony Joshua and an Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury fight will be a huge global event as well,” Hearn told Al Arabiya.
“I think everything will be decided on Saturday, if it’s another amazing fight, which it could well be, and Fury wins, it could set up a trilogy fight between the two of them. For years and still to this day I keep getting asked, ‘when’s it going to happen?’. Obviously, if Fury wins the fight on Saturday that sets up a massive fight with AJ, if he loses the fight it’s still a huge fight with AJ. We’ve got the potential of a Daniel Dubois rematch as well. So I think AJ’s next fight will be Fury or Dubois. I don’t see many other big fights out there for him. I think he just wants the biggest fights available to him. So the result of Saturday will be very important for Anthony Joshua as well.”
Mirror – Sport
