Anthony Joshua may officially be called to face Tyson Fury for the WBC Heavyweight title, as per the sanctioning body’s president, who says that the current heavyweight backlog is ‘terrible.’
Fury is in the market for an opponent, looking to fight in his home country in September, but is so far struggling to find a man to fill the other corner.
That’s hopefully set to change, as the WBC are expected to step in and order a fight. Its President, Mauricio Sulaiman, said the current heavyweight situation was ‘so terrible’ and confirmed to Sky Sports that Fury will have a mandatory called soon.
“It’s a drama, so terrible, with so much talent, so many great fights that can be made in the heavyweight division. What the WBC has done has been lenient and flexible to try to make that Fury-Usyk undisputed heavyweight championship.
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.”
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has expressed disappointment at the stalling in the heavyweight division 🥊 😔
🗣️“Tyson Fury is a victim of the perils of money”
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) June 5, 2023
Last year, the sanctioning body had ordered its number one and number two ranked contenders – Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz Jr – to face off in a final eliminator. Nothing materialised.
“That was announced since November. 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.”
Since Wilder has plans of his own and Ruiz reportedly priced himself out, the mandatory order may just fall on the doorstep of number three – Joshua.
“That’s a possibility. If Wilder and Ruiz are not fighting for the final elimination, Joshua’s right there at No 3. That’s possible.
“I don’t want to speculate because that would be irresponsible to try to make something up. We have to go through a process. The WBC board of governors will make that decision.
“At this stage anything is possible. There’s too much talent, too many great fights, too many great combinations that could be made for heavyweight and everything is stalled.”
‘AJ’ has recently bowed out of ad-hoc talks with Fury in favour of sticking with a more solid plan of facing Dillian Whyte in August and Deontay Wilder in December.
Given that, it’s a real possibility that he orders his team to bypass and mandatory that comes his way, but a decision like that would only give Fury’s side more ammo to say he didn’t want the fight.