Former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder believes British heavyweight Tyson Fury is serious about retiring and even suggested it was something he had to do.
When asked by Fighthype.com whether he thought Fury was serious about retiring, Wilder said:
“Yeah – I think he’s gonna have to retire.
There’s a lot of stuff going on, I’m not going to get into it but it’s looking like he’s going to have to.”
The Bronze Bomber went on to speculate about what might happen if Fury remains out of the game:
“Once that happens then anything is up for grabs.
I can’t give too much information out, I don’t really want to discuss it but it’s going to be a lot of changes in the division.
There are a lot of opportunities and different things lined up so stay tuned.”
Wilder’s comments come after Fury once again announced his retirement after a fight with fellow Brit Derek Chisora fell through.
In a move suggesting Tyson might be serious about retirement this time, he vacated The Ring Magazine belt which will now be awarded to the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch this weekend.
However, the WBC continues to recognise Fury as the champion but have given him a strict deadline of August 26th to confirm his plans.
Should the WBC belt become vacant, Wilder would have the opportunity to challenge for it once again. He is the WBC’s number one contender and would be ordered to face the next highest rated fighter on the list, currently British heavyweight Joe Joyce – who faces New Zealand’s Joseph Parker on September 24.
Wilder’s first obstacle to regaining the WBC title comes in the way of Finnish heavyweight Robert Helenius, who it’s been confirmed that the American will face on October 15th in Brooklyn, New York.
The bout will mark the first fight for either man this year. Should the title end up vacant, the winner of this fight could be ordered to face the winner of Joyce-Parker for the heavyweight championship of the world.