WEMBLEY STADIUM is reportedly on hold for two dates in July as Tyson Fury plans his next title defence.
The WBC heavyweight champion defeated Derek Chisora last time out in December via a tenth round TKO at Tottenham Stadium.
That was on the back of him knocking out Dillian Whyte at Wembley last April in the sixth.
Now ESPN says that sources have told them he is plotting a return to the national stadium this summer.
They claim that Wembley has been put on hold for July 15 and July 22.
Former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr, who famously beat Anthony Joshua for the belts in 2019 before losing the rematch, is “in the mix” to be his opponent.
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And China’s 39-year-old Zhilei Zhang, who is coming off last week’s major upset victory over Joe Joyce, is the other man in the running.
One potential obstacle to that fight could be that Joyce holds a contractual right to an immediate rematch.
Fury, Zhang and Joyce are all part of Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, which means “it’s conceivable the rematch clause issue could be sorted if there’s a desire from all sides to match Fury with Zhang”.
Terry Lane, who co-manages Zhang with his brother Tommy Lane, told ESPN: “Zhang has already expressed he wants to fight Fury in China.
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“We would love to make that happen one day. But the heavyweight division is very much all up in the air right now.”
Fury and fellow heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk were in talks for a bumper unification fight at Wembley on April 29 before talks collapsed.
Negotiations are still taking place for them to meet in Saudi Arabia in November or December in what could be part of a two-fight super night that includes Anthony Joshua versus Deontay Wilder.
Meanwhile, Usyk is also involved in talks for a summer UK bout against mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois.
And that would leave Ruiz “as the most viable available challenger” for Fury.
The 33-year-old Mexican floored Luis Ortiz twice last time out in September on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
