Deontay Wilder should face the winner of Usyk and Joshua, says Tyson Fury
- Chris Brannan
- 26 April 2022
Tyson Fury cemented himself as the greatest heavyweights of his generation when his right uppercut added Dillian Whyte to his already stacked resume.
His other standout wins include Wladimir Klitschko, Deontay Wilder twice and Derek Chisora twice.
Yet in some fans' eyes, the only thing eluding 'The Gyspy King' from being the greatest of all-time is the title of undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. A title the likes of Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Muhammed Ali have all held in their era, but is yet to be conquered since the four-belt era has begun.
With Oleksandr Usyk defending his WBA, WBO and IBF belts against the former champion Anthony Joshua this summer, the logical next move after this is to finally crown a four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion.
Despite this, Fury - who holds the WBC title - doesn't believe he is the right man to fight the winner of Usyk-Joshua, and that his former opponent Wilder deserves the opportunity.
"I'd like to see Wilder fight whoever wins the Joshua-Usyk second fight for it again"
"One thing, Deontay made 10 title defences, more than anybody else. He equalled Muhammed Ali's record, beat Vitali Klitschko's record, he doesn't get the credit he deserves"
It was the 6ft 9 Fury who ended Wilder's record equalling world title run however, when the American's former trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel in the seventh round of their second fight, it not only put an end to Wilder's five-year world championship reign nut also his unblemished record.
Although a plethora of excuses came from the 'Bronze Bombers' camp as to why he lost the second fight - ranging from his ring walk gear being too heavy to the fact that Fury tampered with his gloves by concealing a hard object inside - Wilder came into the third fight under new trainer Malik Scott and a new self-proclaimed boxing style.
Fury, however, would have to overcome adversity in round four after getting knocked down twice. The 'Gypsy King' would eventually outclass and outbox his heavyweight counterpart to win via knockout in round 11.
Even after the three brutal wars shared between the two, Fury has often shown his gratitude towards Wilder.
"I do believe Deontay Wilder is still the second-best heavyweight in the world. And I believe he knocks everybody else out but me"
It's that reason why Fury believes Wilder is the right man to face the winner of Usyk-Joshua, and a fight between any three of them would be well received as in 2018 Joshua and Wilder came close to securing an undisputed championship fight.
After Joshua's road to undisputed was close to its culmination when he added the WBO title to his IBF and WBA collection, the last step was Wilder's green and gold strap.
Despite the months of back-and-forth negotiations between the teams, a deal was never able to be agreed and it remains a fight that fans are craving to see.
Fury retirement talks?
Against Dillian Whyte, Fury put in another stellar performance that the fans have become accustomed to when watching the 33-year-old under trainer SugarHill Steward.
Coming into the bout, fans would talk about Whyte's strong counter-left hook as well as his higher boxing ability in comparison to Wilder's.
Regardless of this, 'The Gypsy King' neutralised the Brixton's man's strengths by keeping on the outside and using his five-inch height and seven-inch reach advantage to not allow Whyte to close the gap and get in any valuable shots.
Whyte was so troubled by the ring IQ of fury that he was unable to land shots in the double digits in any round of the fight, with his highest punch landed stat coming in round 5 with seven shots landing on the frame of Fury (punch stats according to CompuBox).
It was the uppercut that ended the night for 34-year-old Whyte however, the same shot that has resulted in the other two losses on his record against Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin.
Absolute scenes as @Tyson_Fury celebrates a knockout win over Dillian Whyte! 👑#FuryWhyte | BT Sport Box Office ▶️ https://t.co/b0uV32kqC3 pic.twitter.com/ZI0uGo9z8a
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) April 23, 2022
Straight after the fight, talks went straight to the retirement claims Fury had been making in the build-up to the bout, with the champion still adamant in his decision.
"I've given 20 years to boxing, amateur and professional," said Fury. "I've had my brains knocked out about, been put down, dropped, cut, I've had tough fights, draws, wins, I've boxed all over the world".
"How much blood can you get out of a stone? I've given everything and put it on the line every single time and enough is enough. If it was about money, I'd continue but it ain't about money so I'm happy."
The conversation of money had been a big talking point in the build-up to the fight due to the WBC ordering a purse bid split of 80/20 to Fury.
But, due to Whyte being the interim champion, he believed he deserved a split of 55/45. The final agreement saw 10% of Frank Warren's record-breaking purse bid of $41million kept for the winner, with the remainder being split 80/20.
With Fury picking up the win, it saw his purse for the fight come to a total of $33.6million (£26.2million) with Whyte taking home his original base purse of $7.4million (£5.8million) which had the final purse split at 82/18.
Even after all of this, Fury still claimed his career was never focused on money.
"It's never been about money, I'm not a money person. I know a lot of people who have money, big money, but none of them are happy, not one of them," he said.
"Money cannot make happiness, it's not been about the belts for me, it's not about legacies, it's not ben anything apart from punching a motherfu**er's face in on the night. All I ever want to do is win"
The words of Fury were soon contradicted however when he invited UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou into the ring as they discussed an exhibition crossover fight between the pair.
So even if Saturday was the last time we saw him in the boxing ring, it may not be the last time we see him in a ring at all.
