By: Sean Crose
“It’s never gonna happen,” lineal and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said on Thursday, “because I’m retired.” Talking to talkSPORT, Fury was discussing the chance that he might someday fight WBA, WBO and IBF titlist Oleksandr Usyk. And, being Tyson Fury, the man made sure to not hold back. “Let’s just say I’d punch him round the ring, ” he said, “because he’s a middleweight, blown up.” Usyk, for the record, was once the world’s undisputed cruiserweight champion before moving up to heavyweight.
Fury last saw action on Saturday when he dominated Dillian Whyte in front of close to 100,000 people at Wembley Stadium. The bout, which closed with a thunderous 6th round Fury knockout, was the third straight Fury battle in a row that ended within the distance. The previous two were brutal affairs with American heavy hitter Deontay Wilder. Now, at 33 years of age and a 32-0-1 record, Fury is claiming he has nothing more to prove. “I’ve already been the undisputed champion,” he said. “I’ve won every single belt there is to win. I’ve got nothing more to do. I am out, fully retired, done.”
It could be argued that Fury has never been the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, as he has never held all of the major world heavyweight title belts at once. It could also be argued that Fury may well indeed return to the ring. Put simply, the man is known to say all kinds of things. Fury is, in fact, professional boxing’s current master of mind games. Whether he claims to now be retired, or willing to fight a UFC champion in a “hybrid” match, or both, it’s difficult to discern which of Fury’s statements will prove to be true.
Of one thing there is no doubt – Fury is now the premiere heavyweight in the post-Klitschko era. He’s bested Wilder twice, and Anthony Joshua, who was recently seen as essentially being Fury’s equal, was defeated by Usyk last fall when the Ukranian removed the numerous world title belts from around the Englishman’s waist. Still, boxing could use an actual undisputed and lineal heavyweight champion of the world. Fury is now three belts away from being able to truthfully make any claim of undisputed ring true. In order to legitimately become the undisputed champion, Fury would have to face the winner of the upcoming Usyk-Joshua rematch and win. At the moment, at least, that doesn’t appear to be something the fighter known as the “Gypsy King” is interested in doing.