The highly anticipated heavyweight unification bout between WBC titleholder Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (24) and WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14) will not be happening anytime soon.
That is the view of retired former WBA super middleweight champion George Groves, who believes we will see the 35-year-old Fury either face Francis Ngannou 0-1 in a rematch or hang up the gloves for good.
Britain’s Fury had to suffer the ignominy of being held to a split decision by boxing debutant Francis Ngannou 0-1 in a 10-round non-title fight at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Although he won the bout by scores of 95-94, 96-93 and 94-95, Fury found himself on the canvas in the third round courtesy of a left hook from the 37-year-old former UFC heavyweight who hails from Cameroon.
Groves says Fury’s embarrassment at his performance will compel him to face Ngannou again or retire from the sport.
“There is not a chance the Usyk fight is happening on that date. It is not Usyk on December 23, I don’t think it’s Usyk next. I think it’s either Ngannou or that’s the last of Fury,” Groves told Sky Sports.
“He tells everyone he is the Gypsy King, that he is the man, no fighter can ever beat him. There is someone right now who can beat him and it’s Usyk. A lot of people will think the same.
“He doesn’t need to roll the dice and get beat off the little gap-toothed Ukrainian guy.
“He’d rather just sail off into the sunset. He is an interesting character and there are lots of avenues he can explore after boxing. Doors that might be shut on him or not the same if he loses to Usyk.
“I think he is going to either rectify the last fight against Ngannou, which he will get paid a lot of money for and a lot of people would be interested in. He will train better and show up and perform. Or he might retire.
“There is no way he didn’t wake up the next morning [after the Ngannou fight] with loads of doubts. ‘Have I still got it anymore?’ ‘Why could I not handle this guy comfortably?’
“He might be questioning, ‘do I really want to do it anymore?’
“He wasn’t the ‘people’s champion’ until after the second Denotay Wilder fight [in 2020] and he hasn’t had that acid test since fighting Wilder [in 2021]. That is a long time.
“He hasn’t had to work hard, hasn’t had to struggle. Dillian Whyte didn’t show up. Derek Chisora was like a friend. It feels like a long time since he has probably been really backs against the wall.
“To roll back the clock and have that hunger still at 35, it might not be the same. It definitely won’t be the same as going out to Germany and beating Wladimir Klitschko [in 2015].”
