Tyson Fury has had a very productive few weeks. The lineal heavyweight champion of the world, who retired following his win over Dillian Whyte a few months ago, announced his intentions to return to the ring. He quickly backpedaled on that right before Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2 on August 20.
When Fury retired for the second time this year, he let go of a belt. Fury won The Ring heavyweight title when he beat Deontay Wilder in February 2020. After his announcement, The Ring announced he’s relinquished that title. The winner of Usyk vs. Joshua 2 will be the new holder of The Ring belt.
“The Ring Magazine championship has always been the holy grail of boxing. They’ve been fantastic with me and I’ve always carried that title with pride,” Fury told The Ring.
“The greatest moment of my career was winning the world championship (by outpointing Wladimir Klitschko) back in 2015. There’s the great comeback after that with the three [Deontay] Wilder fights. There’s been a lot of great highlights in my career – even the Dillian Whyte fight in front of 94,000 at Wembley. It doesn’t get much bigger than that. And I went out with a bang.”
MORE: Join DAZN to watch Usyk vs. Joshua 2
One title is taken care of. But what about the WBC heavyweight title? Fury also won that belt off Wilder and has since defended it twice. While he has retired, Fury still holds onto the one belt needed to complete a unified heavyweight title fight.
Is Tyson Fury the WBC heavyweight champion?
Fury’s initial intentions have been to keep the WBC title for 12 months after his last defense of the belt. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman is willing to give Fury some time.
He told Izquierdazo Boxeo that if Fury reiterates his retirement over the next few weeks, Sulaiman and the WBC will support him. There were no talks of an interim title being made. Fury will be visiting Mexico soon, and Sulaiman will try and get an answer.
In a statement, the WBC stated that they are in constant communication with Team Fury. The organization has decided to wait after the Usyk vs. Joshua 2 fight to allow Fury to decide what to do.
“The WBC has set Friday, August 26th as the final day to receive official written confirmation from them. No further comments will be made by our organization until then.”
Just finished a touching video conference with @Tyson_Fury who has confirmed his official retirement from boxing . We fully support his decision which is a dream for anyone to retire undefeated and as WBC champion of the world.@WBCBoxing will prepare a special farewell event soon pic.twitter.com/2SgCRILldl
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) August 12, 2022
MORE: ‘Show me the money’: Retired Tyson Fury reveals asking price for potential boxing return
Who’s next in line for the WBC heavyweight title?
If Fury does stay retired, a fight one month away could determine a new champion.
Joe Joyce vs. Joseph Parker will be taking place on September 24. There were rumors of that bout being for the interim belt. According to the WBC’s rankings, Joe Joyce is ranked second but is also the WBO mandatory challenger. The Sun reported that Joyce’s team is pushing his fight against Parker to be for the WBC heavyweight title. He already told Metro before the Fury-Whyte bout that he would want to face the winner.
Joyce has held the British, Commonwealth, WBC Silver, WBO International, and European heavyweight titles. Parker won the WBO title against Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2016. He is currently on a six-fight win streak, recently beating Derek Chisora in a pair of fights for the WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
There is also Deontay Wilder, ranked first in the WBC’s rankings. The former champion has been out of action since losing to Fury in their trilogy fight in October 2021. He currently has no return date set, but there are rumors of him facing Robert Helenius.
Will Tyson Fury fight Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua?
In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Usyk and Joshua will once again face off. Joshua has a chance to become a three-time heavyweight champion, while Usyk can prove to doubters that he belongs in the division.
MORE: Will Tyson Fury fight Anthony Joshua?
At one point, Joshua and Fury agreed in principle to fight one another. That was before Wilder exercised his rematch clause for a Fury trilogy fight. If Joshua wins, a fight years in the making could be back in play. It is unknown what Fury’s status would be if Usyk were to beat Joshua a second time.
When is Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2?
- Date: August 20
- Main card: 12 p.m. ET | 5 p.m. BST | 2 a.m. AEST
- Main event: 5:15 p.m. ET | 10:15 p.m. BST | 7:15 a.m. AEST (Approximately)
Usyk vs. Joshua 2 will take place on August 20. The main card will start at 12 p.m. ET | 5 p.m. BST | 2 a.m. AEST. Usyk and Joshua should make their way to the ring around 5:15 p.m. ET | 10:15 p.m. BST | 7 a.m. AEST, depending on how long the undercard fights last.
How to watch Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2
- U.S., Canada, Australia: DAZN
- U.K.: Sky Sports Box Office
In most countries globally, including the U.S., Canada and Australia, the fight will be streamed on DAZN.
However, Sky Sports Box Office won the rights to the fight in Joshua’s home territory (U.K.).
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2 PPV price: How much does the card cost?
- DAZN monthly subscription: $19.99 in the U.S., $20 in Canada, $13.99 AUD
- DAZN annual subscription: $99.99 in the U.S., $150 in Canada
Fight fans in the UK will have to stump up £26.95, a £2 increase on the price Sky Sports set for AJ and Usyk’s initial encounter.
MORE: Join DAZN to watch Usyk vs. Joshua 2
In the United States, Canada and Australia, and most territories globally, the fight will air on DAZN, but it will not be via PPV.
Sky Sports Box Office: £26.95 in the U.K.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2 fight card
- Oleksandr Usyk (c) vs. Anthony Joshua for the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles
- Filip Hrgovic vs Zhilei Zhang; IBF heavyweight title eliminator
- Callum Sith vs. Mathieu Bauderlique; WBC light-heavyweight title eliminator
- Badou Jack vs. Richard Rivera
- Tyrone Spong vs. Andrew Tabiti
- Ramla Ali vs. Crystal Garcia Nova
- Daniel Lapin vs. Jozef Jurko
- Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Jose Alatorre
- Money Kicks vs. Kyle Paevie
- Ben Whittaker vs. Peter Nosic
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