By Jake Tiernan: Tyson Fury is not interested in fighting top-level boxers Anthony Joshua & Tyson Fury. Fury says his interest is in facing Francos Ngannou in their boxing match on October 28th, and then either a rematch with him in the cage or a fight with Jon Jones.
There will be a major push by boxing fans for the WBC to strip Fury of his heavyweight title if he’s going to be focusing on fighting MMA fighters, be it in the cage or the ring.
If Fury, 35, is going to put his energy into doing crossover events against non-boxers, he should be stripped of his WBC title and use the invisible lineal title that he frequently mentions.
Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) will be fighting Ngannou (0-0) in a 10 round boxing match next month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 28th. If he wins that fight, it could be Ngannou or Jones.
Tyson is getting a lot of money from the Saudis to fight the 37-year-old Ngannou in Riyadh on October 28th, but this, you’d like to see him return to boxing to face IBF, WBA & WBO champ Oleksandr Usyk, or one of these heavyweights:
- Anthony Joshua
- Deontay Wilder
- Zhilei Zhang
- Frank Sanchez
- Jared Anderson
- Arslanbek Makhmudov
Stephen A. Smith: “Is Anthony Joshua worthy of a title fight against you?” said Smith to First Take.
Tyson Fury: “He’s a bum. I’m sure he’s been beaten three times and spanked as well.”
Fury hasn’t taken a risky fight since his trilogy match against Wilder in 2021, and he had to be forced into that one. He’s fought Dillian Whyte & Dereck Chisora in his last two bouts, and those were not the fighters that fans wanted to see Fury fight.
As long as Fury holds onto the WBC title, he remains relevant and will be viewed as still an active fighter, even though he’s not. That’s why it’s important that the WBC stripes Fury, which they won’t do. He’s too popular to be stripped.
Smith: “What about a fourth shot between you and Deontay Wilder? What about that? What’s the possibility of that?”
Fury: “Zero possibilities. I already spanked him three times.”
Smith: “Well, the first fight was a draw. He did drop you twice.”
Fury: “You know I won that fight.:
Smith: “You clearly won the last two. I don’t know about that first one. He dropped you, and you got up.”
Fury: “In the second two, I knocked his a** out twice.”
Smith: “For the audience that don’t understand this. You told him at the press conference that time he was wearing his headphones.
“You looked him in the face and said, ‘I can’t believe I flew across the ocean for this’ because he wouldn’t talk to the media. You said, ‘Here is what I’m going to do. I’m going to hit him. Even when I miss him, I’m going to lean on him.
“‘I’m going to come in the ring about 40 lbs heavier, and guess what? There’s nothing he’s going to be able to do about it. I’m going to tell you exactly what I’m going to do, and then I’m going to do it,’ which you did.’
“So you deserve a lot of credit for it. Do you think someone like Wilder wants to fight you again?”
Fury: “I don’t know. I gave him a hell of a beating three times. He would have to be stupid to want to fight again, that’s for sure.”
Smith: “Francis Ngannou against you. The man does have knockout power, so you got to respect that he’s being trained by Mike Tyson. So, we shall see. Major props for all you have accomplished. Thank you for being.”
