Boxing

TYSON FURY’s next fight could be confirmed as early as next week as the WBC are set to make a ruling on their cancelled title eliminator.Interim WBC heavyweight champ Dillian Whyte was due to face Swedish slugger Otto Wallin in a title eliminator on Saturday night but was forced to withdraw from the fight with a shoulder injury.
The WBC will make a ruling on the cancelled fight between Dillian Whyte and Otto Wallin next weekendCredit: MATCHROOM
Their ruling will have a direct impact on heavyweight champ Tyson Fury
Whyte will be hoping the WBC mandate him to face Fury early next yearCredit: REX
Whyte, 33, has shifted his focus to a Battle of Britain with Fury, although Wallin’s promoter Dmitry Salita has called for the bout to be rescheduled.
And according to Sky Sports, the WBC will make a ruling on the bout ‘in the coming week’.
Whyte will be hoping the WBC opt to scrap his clash with Wallin and mandate him to face Fury early next year.
But even if that happens, the Brixton Body Snatcher is refusing to get his hopes up.
He said: The Brixton Body Snatcher said: “The Tyson Fury fight is a fight that I wanted, it’s a fight I tried to get before.
“[It was] Mandated for belts and it didn’t happen. And fortunately for me now, it seems like it’s gonna go ahead.

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“But you can never bank on anything Tyson Fury says.
“Because he might say, ‘You know what I’ve had enough I don’t want to fight anymore.’ Or he might say, ‘I need a longer rest.’
“He’s had three hard fights with Deontay Wilder. We don’t know how much they have taken out of him.
“So we’ll just have to wait and see.”
He added: “Now I’ve got to focus on recovering healing up and go and do what I do.”
Whyte, 33, has set his sights on a stadium showdown with The Gypsy King.
He said: “It’s a major fight in boxing, especially for the UK.
“It’s a major fight If me and him can dust-up in the early part of next year in a stadium.

Whyte is refusing to get too excited about facing Dillian wCredit: MATCHROOM
“It’s a major fight and one I’m looking forward to. I think Tyson Fury will look forward to fighting me as well. It’s a big fight.
“We know each other well, we’ve sparred with each other, we’ve spent time with each other we’ve had our ups and downs and our beefs and stuff.
“But I think, logically, he’ll think, ‘This a good fight. It’s a good homecoming fight and it should happen.’ So let’s see.”
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TYSON FURY’s pursuit of the undisputed heavyweight title has received a major boost following a meeting between boxing’s four governing bodies.The WBC king will be hoping to take part in a unification bout late next year if he gets past fellow Brit Dillian Whyte.
Tyson Fury wants to become undisputed heavyweight champion by the end of 2022Credit: GETTY
The Gypsy King will face the winner of Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk if he beats Dillain WhyteCredit: GETTY
The heads of the WBC, WBO, IBF and IBO all met this week and discussed ‘standardised title unification process’
And it seems his road to the title of undisputed heavyweight champion could be a little smoother following a meeting between the heads of the WBC, WBO, IBF and IBO.
In a joint statement, the quartet said: “Today’s meeting was very productive, especially in discussing a possible future agreement in search of a standardised title unification process.”
Should Fury get past Brixton banger Whyte, his final hurdle to undisputed status will come in the form of Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk.
AJ will bid to reclaim the unified heavyweight titles from the Ukrainian early next year, although a date for the fight has not yet been set.
A timeframe for Fury vs Whyte – which is expected to be ordered next month – has not yet been set either.
But Team Fury are targeting a March homecoming for The Gypsy King.
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The Brit’s co-promoter Bob Arum told Sky Sports: “Who Fury fights next will be determined by Fury.
“If the fight is in the UK, I would think Whyte would be a good possibility, as well as Joyce,” he told Sky Sports.
“It is very, very important that Tyson, having done his last five fights in the US, that he goes back and does a fight in the UK.
“He is a Brit, he has plenty of fans in the UK, and if he does a fight in the UK then comes back to the US, he will bring 10,000 Brits with him. American fans have to learn to sing like the Brits!
“Frank Warren is going to Manchester to meet Fury to work out a date.
Tyson Fury scored a sensational 11th-round KO victory over Deontay Wilder earlier this monthCredit: GETTY
“It could be March or April, but no later than April.
“A date that would be appealing to us in the US, even if the fight took place in the UK, would be the middle of April because we have a college basketball tournament called March Madness which the country goes crazy for. It is tough to find a date for a big fight [during March Madness].
“We will figure out who and when Tyson will fight next.”
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Eddie Hearn says that it is likely that Fury will fight Whyte next More

RICKY HATTON wants Tyson Fury to retire and forget about fighting Anthony Joshua.’Hitman’ Hatton reckons the Gypsy King has nothing to prove to anyone and has ‘done his job’.
Ricky Hatton thinks Tyson Fury should retire and forget about fighting Anthony JoshuaCredit: Refer to Caption
Fury’s hopes of meeting AJ were dashed when Joshua lost to Oleksandr Usyk
Fury knocked out Deontay Wilder in the 11th round of their recent trilogy match.
But he had his hopes of a mammoth Battle of Britain clash with Anthony Joshua dashed when AJ lost to Oleksandr Usyk.
But Hatton reckons Fury, 33, needs to forget about that now and start thinking about calling it a day.
He told the Mail: “Tyson’s proved himself. He’s had that trilogy with Wilder, he beat [Wladamir] Klitschko.
“Tyson’s not like AJ; he’s suffered from depression, drinks and drugs and all he now wants is the defining fights and to get out the game.
“Let’s have it right, if Tyson wants to retire he’s got nothing more to prove.

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“The only thing that Tyson wants to know in his own mind, just like AJ does, is who the best out of he and AJ is.
“But Tyson can’t wait another two years while he fights him and he fights him, he’ll want to be in and out now.
“He deserves it as well. I’m sure his wife Paris doesn’t want to see him stood there getting knocked on his a*** every five minutes.
“Tyson’s done his job now as far as I’m concerned.
“It’s a shame if the AJ fight doesn’t happen, and if it does it has to happen quickly, because Tyson’s ready for hanging up his gloves now.
“As his friend, I want him to hang them up – he’s got nothing left to prove.”
Usyk’s unanimous points decision put the mouthwatering prospect of Fury vs AJ on hold AGAIN.
‘FORGET THE AJ FIGHT’
The Gypsy King’s promoters Frank Warren and Bob Arum have told Joshua to stand aside to allow Fury to fight Usyk to become undisputed.
But Eddie Hearn quickly laughed that off and said AJ and Usyk will meet again early next year.
And Hatton thinks Fury should banish thoughts of the AJ fight from his mind.
He added: “He’s got to forget the AJ fight, it might not happen.
“He’s got to get the undisputed, get all the belts and retire very proud of where he’s come from.
“He was at the bottom of the ladder a few years ago, and to be an undefeated undisputed champion, he can hold his head up high for me.”
Fury has battled with personal demons in his time and his comeback from the depths of despair to become world champion makes the Gypsy King one of the top five heavyweights of all time, according to Hatton.
He added: “Everyone has a different view [on their top heavyweights throughout history].
“Muhammad Ali will forever be the greatest – in everyone’s mind – for reasons other than boxing.
“Some would mention Lennox Lewis, while others would say Tyson might have been a bit too tricky.
“Would it be unfair of me to say he’s got to be around the top five? I would definitely say that.”
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Dillian Whyte fears Tyson Fury fight will not happen More

ANTHONY JOSHUA has appeared to aim a dig at former heavyweight champ David Haye over his ‘baby toe’ injury.Haye lost his chance to be crowned unified heavyweight king in 2011 when he was easily outpointed by Wladimir Klitschko.
Anthony Joshua is refusing to make excuses for his two pro defeatsCredit: Getty
David Haye is a two-weight former world champCredit: Getty
Haye blamed his injured toe for his defeat to Wladimir Klitschko in 2011Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
After the fight, the Brit stood on the press conference table to show off his injured toe, which he claimed affected his performance.
But many laughed it off as a poor excuses for fluffing his lines in his big chance in Hamburg, Germany.
Now, speaking to iFL TV about the time he sensationally lost to huge outsider Andy Ruiz Jr to suffer his first pro defeat, Joshua explained how he refused to look for excuses.
Ruiz Jr stepped in for Jarrell Miller, who failed a drugs test, and went on to shock the world by KO’ing AJ in the seventh round.
He said: “I was looking for a replacement. Realistically, at top level we need another 10 weeks to prepare for this style of fight, but whatever bring him on.
“It was interesting because I found out certain pieces of information two weeks after the fight as to why certain things were going the way they were going.

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“It gave me reason, so what people call excuses… I could have been like my baby toe was hurting. Ruiz had machine-gun bullets in his glove.
“Whatever excuse I could have thought of at the time, I could have come up with. I felt like I had reason, I handled it myself. Every day I woke up, I looked at myself in the mirror.”
As well as Haye blaming his little toe, Deontay Wilder accused Tyson Fury of having ‘loaded gloves’ after the American was battered around the ring in their second bout.
AJ went on to win back his WBA, WBO and IBF titles by easily outpointing Ruiz Jr in their rematch.
Is AJ going to beat Fury in a boxing match? I don’t believe soDavid HayeFormer two-weight world champ
But in September he lost them all over again to Oleksandr Usyk.
He has promised their rematch will be ‘a war’ and has been asking Mike Tyson’s old coach Ronnie Shields to turn him into DOG for the shot at redemption.
Meanwhile former two-weight world champ Haye has predicted that Fury would be too powerful and resilient for Joshua if they ever fought.
He told BT Sport: “I think from the strength of that performance, it would be very tough for AJ.
“Having watched AJ’s last performance against Usyk, the shots that Fury took down the pipe from Wilder, he was able to get back up and rough him up.
“The fact that AJ stood at range with Usyk having a boxing match… is AJ going to beat Fury in a boxing match? I don’t believe so.”
Anthony Joshua announces he is willing to fight Deontay Wilder next year More