Fury forecasts ‘biggest year of career’
LONDON
Tyson Fury said 2023 would be “the “biggest year of my career” as the Briton looks to unify boxing’s fractured heavyweight division.
Fury, unbeaten as a professional, retained his WBC version of the title with a 10th-round stoppage of Derek Chisora on Dec. 3, the third time he has defeated his compatriot.
The 34-year-old Fury was in complete command from the opening bell, with large parts of the fight resembling a sparring session such was the dominance of the self-styled “Gypsy King.”
Oleksandr Usyk, the holder of the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles, was among a crowd of nearly 60,000 on a bitterly cold night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London.
“I’m ready and willing to take on Usyk whether it is in Saudi Arabia or back here in the United Kingdom,” Fury told a post-fight press conference.
“Let’s give the fans one champion, one name, one face. He’s not an easy boxer to figure out, he’s slick, a southpaw, moves well, coming in on good form and I look forward to the challenge. But for whatever reason if we’re not able to do that, then we will have Joe Joyce at Wembley. I’ll do Usyk and then Joyce at Wembley as well.”
There were chaotic scenes following Dec. 3’s contest, with Fury joined in the ring by Ukraine’s Usyk and Britain’s Joyce.
All three boxers are unbeaten as professionals, with Usyk, 35, twice defeating Anthony Joshua, firstly depriving the British heavyweight of his world titles at the home of Premier League football club Tottenham in September last year before defeating him again in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this July.
Fury after defeating Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April and reversing a decision to retire, called out Joshua, the London 2012 Olympic super-heavyweight champion.
But talks between the two camps fell through, with Chisora stepping in, and Fury is now resigned to never meeting Joshua in the ring.
“I want to fight real men, real challenges,” said Fury. “Usyk came over here and got in my face. We [Fury and Joshua] live in the same country but have you ever seen AJ do that after a fight?”
