Anthony Joshua could end up having to wait until 2025 before he gets a chance to fight Tyson Fury for whatever heavyweight titles he’s holding, if any. It’s a good idea that Joshua starts making other plans and put Fury out of his mind because it doesn’t look good for the Gypsy King.
Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren points out that Tyson has a rematch clause with IBF, WBA, and WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk for their May 18th clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and he expects that to be executed. With the boatloads of sweet, cold cash Fury and Usyk are getting, why wouldn’t the loser want to milk it?
If Fury loses both of those fights to Usyk, Joshua’s fight with him will be worthless. Knowing Fury, he would push for a third fight with Usyk and lose that one, too, making it pointless for AJ to face him.
The two fighters get massive purses from these fights, so the loser will activate the rematch clause. Any step-aside deal will need to be huge for Usyk to move out of the way to allow Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) to fight Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) this year.
Can an Aging Fury Even Handle Usyk?
The 35-year-old Fury may lose on May 18th because even though he’s lost a great deal of weight since the postponement, he still looks slow and very old. Fury’s rapid onset aging can’t be ignored, seeing that he’s aged terribly in the last three years.
Losing weight hasn’t increased Fury’s speed and his lost mobility. Unfortunately, timing off the pounds hasn’t been the Fountain of Youth that the aging Fury needs, considering he still resembles a middle-aged person in his mid-50s.
That’s Fury’s main problem. He appears to have experienced rapid age acceleration since his second fight against Deontay Wilder. Fury has partially disguised his aging by fighting British journeymen Dereck Chisora and Dillian Whyte and taking on novice Francis Ngannou.
Fury’s Focus on Usyk
“One of them is, definitely!” Warren said to Sky Sports. “These guys are getting massive, massive purses for these fights.
“The loser, I’m quite sure, will trigger the rematch clause because of the finances that are involved.”
“Next March if Tyson does what I believe he’ll do and AJ continues to win, I’m sure that’ll set up a big fight,” Warren told Sky Sports.