FUR REAL NOW
Tyson Fury may ‘stick around’ to face Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk or UFC’s Francis Ngannou despite retirement claim
TYSON FURY could still be convinced to 'stick around' after fighting Dillian Whyte - despite his retirement claim.
The Gypsy King defends his WBC crown on April 23 against mandatory challenger Whyte at Wembley.
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He had promised to wipe the floor with his long-time rival before making a clean sweep of the heavyweight titles.
But Fury soon backtracked on plans to become undisputed champion after announcing he will walk away after his UK homecoming.
Despite the warning, even his US promoter Bob Arum cast doubt over the decision, so long as massive fights are still on the market.
Arum told : “He can say things and he says them sincerely and he believes them for the moment, but he’s not signing a contract that it’s his last fight
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“I think on second thoughts when he sees what’s out there – like maybe an Anthony Joshua fight or an Oleksandr Usyk fight – he might stick around.
“He’s not gonna stick around to fight a secondary opponent.
"If there’s another big fight for him, he will in my opinion, without question, take that fight.
“But if there isn’t, he’s not looking to spend time training and so forth to do a secondary fight.
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“Because at this point he has plenty of money and he wants to enjoy life – his family, his wife and six kids.”
The heavyweight picture still remains murky, with Joshua's rematch with Usyk set to be postponed.
Usyk, 35, who beat AJ in September, has bravely taken up arms to defend Ukraine amid Russia's invasion.
Joshua, 32, is instead lined up with an interim bout in the summer.
Fury has confirmed retirement or not, he will still try to fight UFC champ Francis Ngannou, 35, in 2023.
Ngannou is prohibited from competing outside of the UFC but his contract is set to expire this year.
It leaves Hall of Fame promoter Arum ready to finalise a mega-money crossover fight.
He said: “I think absolutely we want that to happen. Yeah, why not? That would be a great thing to happen.
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“I think the MMA guy has an ACL that’s been operated on so he’ll be ready next year and that fight would do absolutely tremendous business.
“If he has a contract still with the UFC – which I don’t know whether he does or doesn’t – to do it in conjunction with Dana White would add to the drama and the momentum of that fight.
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“It would do record numbers.”
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