Tyson Fury facing Anthony Joshua becomes an option again on April 24, provided the latter doesn’t nail down an opponent over the next six weeks.
Unforeseen circumstances regarding a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk opened the door for Joshua to wait around a little longer.
FURY vs JOSHUA
After Fury takes on Dillian Whyte, the Usyk vs. Joshua rematch will remain on hold but will take even more significance later in the year.
However, the option of Joshua negotiating with Fury comes into the fold the day after his Wembley Showdown, provided he beats Whyte.
Joshua keeps his cards close to his chest after deciding an interim event could be on the cards with Usyk in Ukraine defending his country.
It will be interesting to see if Joshua allows Fury to become a potential opponent or whether he shops around for a signed contract elsewhere before then.
That might tell fans all they need to know about whether AJ wants Fury vs Joshua to happen.
CONTRADICTION
Meanwhile, Fury repeats his pattern with retirement claims as the walking contradiction lays out plans to fight the UFC champion.
Granted, those intentions to battle Francis Ngannou are off until 2023 due to surgery for the Nigerian superstar, but Fury still intends to reignite the match next year.
Therefore, a recent admission that he will walk away from the sport after facing Whyte on April 23 couldn’t be further off the mark.
Fury also gave a five-fight shortlist, including Whyte, Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua [twice], and Derek Chisora, meaning not even “The Gypsy King” knows what he wants.
For now, it’s back from Las Vegas to The Big Smoke as Fury defends his WBC heavyweight title for the second time.
The man himself cannot wait for his homecoming.
“It’s been a roller coaster of a ride, across the Atlantic Ocean in the exotic venues of MGM Grand, T-Mobile, Staples Center. I feel like Thin Lizzy’s song, ‘The Boys Are Back in Town,’ pointed out Fury.
“Four years away, and I get to come back and showcase on the world’s biggest stage at Wembley Stadium, 100,000 people there.
“I’m just putting it on so the fans can come, the people who traveled to Las Vegas… not everyone was able to come.
“For the people who stayed up to five in the morning to see those fights on BT Sport, now they can come and enjoy an event on home soil and be a part of history.
“People will be talking about this event and saying, ‘Where were you when this happened?'”
WEMBLEY
Promoter Frank Warren, who will oversee all of Tyson Fury’s future fights alongside Top Rank, added: “We entered a world record purse bid for the fight, and here we are with largest purses ever paid to British boxers to fight on UK soil.
“I am delighted, we are at Wembley, and it doesn’t get any better than this.
“It will be a fantastic night of boxing and will be a sell-out with just under a 100,000 capacity.
“It will be a special night because you have got the WBC champion, the Lineal champion who has not fought here in nearly four years.”
The views expressed in this article are opinions of Phil Jay.
Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Founding editor of World Boxing News since 2010. WBN has over one billion views on all platforms.
Attending over 200 events and scoring over 400 fights, Phil has overseen WBN to a quarter of a million followers on social media.
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