Tyson Fury’s American co-promoter is confident the WBC heavyweight champion will be back in the ring before the year is out.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum says he could see Fury 32-0-1 (23) facing off with fellow undefeated Brit Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce 13-0 (12) in a big stadium fight in the UK.
Fury last fought in April when he drew a crowd of 94,000 to watch him knockout WBC mandatory contender Dillian Whyte 28-3 (19) in six frames.
After the win Fury announced he was planning to retire, but is yet to renounced the green belt.
Joyce, who is promoted by Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren, is slated to face Christian Hammer 27-9 (17) at London’s Wembley Arena on July 2.
Many in the boxing industry believe Fury will return to the ring after a break, with the possibility of him face the winner of the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight title fight between Ukraine southpaw Oleksandr Usyk 19-0 (13) and former victim Anthony Joshua 24-2 (22) of England. The pair will clash in a rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 20.
But Arum sees the Joyce fight as the one to make next.
“He’s going to fight, he’s a fighting man, and I expect Tyson Fury back in the ring before the end of the year,” Arum said to Queensberry Promotions.
“I think if Joe Joyce wins his fight in early July, Tyson Fury and Joyce at Wembley in early at the beginning of October will do as well if not better – I don’t know how you can do better – but as well as the Dillian Whyte fight with Tyson Fury.
“That will lead to a Fury fight against the winner of Joshua and Usyk. I’ll do the best I can to make sure that fight takes place in the UK because I don’t think it’s good for boxing to have a fight like that and putting it in Saudi Arabia.
Arum is against the idea of staging fights in Saudi Arabia, where the ponies up big money to attract major sporting events. Joshua fought his rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr 34-2 (22) there in December 2019.
“I think you make more money doing it that way but I don’t think it’s right for the fans. Boxing is a sport that depends on the enthusiasm of the fans and you would never think of taking the Super Bowl and moving it to Saudi Arabia, no matter what the Saudis are willing to pay,” Arum said.
“In the short term, it might be advantageous to go to Saudi Arabia to grab the money. But long term, it’s not good for the sport.”
Warren would also like to see Fury fight again but he seems less confident than Arum that we will see him lace up the gloves again.
“He’s the better fighter out of all of them,” Warren said recently. “To prove my point, so that there’s no doubt, I would like to see him [fight again], but the fact of the matter is he has nothing to prove to anybody.”
