By: Hans Themistode
Victories don’t seem to last long in the sport of boxing. At most, you are afforded just a few seconds before the dreaded question comes.
“Who do you want next?”
For Tyson Fury, his victory parade lasted roughly a few minutes.
Fury just put together quite possibly the best performance of his career in defeating Deontay Wilder for his WBC title. Fury dropped, battered and manhandled Wilder all night long. It was a great, yet jaw dropping performance by Fury. But as he walks around with his newly won WBC title around his waist, he’ll have a new challenge awaiting him.
“I’ve already spoken to AJ,” said promoter Eddie Hearn about the possibility of matching up Fury with unified champion Anthony Joshua. “He wants to go into this fight next.”
The excitement is great, but a bit unrealistic at this point. Joshua has already hammered out a deal to take on mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev in June. Even if Pulev did decide to step aside, the contest would still be unlikely as Wilder has a rematch clause in their contract.
Still, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Two British fighters holding all of the titles in the Heavyweight division is more than just rare. It’s never happened before.
“We have to make this fight happen. We will never, ever get the chance for two Brits to fight for an undisputed heavyweight world championship. I promise you we will do everything we can to make this fight. It has to happen. We will never get this opportunity in this sport to do this again with two Brits. I’ve already spoken to AJ – he wants to go straight into this fight next. He loves the Tyson fight, he has has zero fear of fighting Tyson Fury. He has been through everything already and he wants to be undisputed and this is the chance for our sport to have one of those legacy moments that we will never get the opportunity to have again.”
Fury vs Joshua is the sort of fight that fans dream of. Both fighters are at the top of their game and will have the chance to call themselves the best in the world if either of them is victorious.
But this is a contest that will take some time to materialize. So for now, Fury will be given the chance to enjoy his win over Wilder. The new WBC champ impressed everyone around the world, including Hearn.
“I heard out of his camp he was going to be aggressive and go for it and I thought it was absolute madness and it ended up being genius from him and his team. Just a wonderful performance. What a time for British boxing – an incredible night. I felt like he could school him but I didn’t think he could school him and beat him up, and he did that.”
