Tyson Fury could well end up facing Deontay Wilder again – despite chasing clashes with Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua.
The WBC heavyweight champion sensationally offered his fellow Brit a lifeline earlier this week.
Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) had originally planned to take on Oleksandr Usyk for every title in the sport’s premier division.
But the Ukrainian opted against fighting this side of Christmas, citing needing a break after injuries were suffered in his win over ‘AJ’ last month.
Usyk claimed Fury’s old Ring Magazine title in a rematch against Joshua at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia as he successfully retained the WBA Super, IBF, IBO and WBO world titles before calling out ‘The Gypsy King’.
Fury accepted and it seemed the fight was headed to the Middle East in December, but after Usyk made the decision to step away until 2023, Joshua was offered a shot at the WBC title by Fury on terms of 60-40.
Meanwhile, the WBC revealed that Andy Ruiz is in pole position to fight the winner of Deontay Wilder’s return against Robert Helenius.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ meets Finland’s Helenius on October 15 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and a win will secure a showdown with the California-based Mexican former unified world heavyweight champion after his win over Luis Ortiz last weekend.
The pair will then meet in a sanctioned final eliminator – with the victor becoming the mandatory challenger to Tyson Fury.
‼️ WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has now clarified that Andy Ruiz Jr vs Luis Ortiz was a "semi-final eliminator" and so is Deontay Wilder vs Robert Helenius on Oct 15th. Ruiz Jr vs Wilder/Helenius will be final eliminator to determine Tyson Fury's next mandatory. [@LopezDoriga]
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 6, 2022
If Wilder does come through against both Helenius and Ruiz then there is a real possibility he could face Fury for a fourth time. Their first contest ended in a controversial draw, with most believing the Brit had done enough to get his hand raised – whilst fights two and three both ended in convincing stoppage victories for Tyson.
The WBC has also gone on to say that Fury can have a voluntary defence, having beaten Dillian Whyte in a mandatory defence in April at Wembley Stadium in London.
The sanctioning body’s president Mauricio Sulaiman believes a fight against Joshua could well be the answer, having labelled it as ‘interesting’.
Sulaiman, when speaking to Sky Sports, said:
“Fury made his mandatory defence in April. He is in a voluntary stage and the WBC will determine all mandatories of all divisions at the convention in Acapulco in November.
“The WBC has sanctioned those two bouts [between Wilder and Helenius and Ruiz Jr’s defeat of Luis Ortiz] and the Board will review each division [in November].
“The WBC cannot mandate such bout, that would be against the rules and against the rights of champion Fury.
“Fury vs. Joshua will always be an interesting match, especially for the UK.”
Sulaiman went on to nail his colours to the mast in terms of the best heavyweight in Britain.
“Fury is without a doubt the best heavyweight of today and is in his prime.”