MORECAMBE, ENGLAND - APRIL 10: Tyson Fury smiles during a press conference ahead of the IBF, IBO, ... [+]
WBC heavyweight titleholder and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury seemingly wants to fight ten more times in his career. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reported Fury’s plan for his next four fights.
According to Coppinger, Fury is willing to have “eight to 10 more fights.”
Fury is fighting Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight title on May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The winner of that fight will be stripped of the IBF title because of a rematch clause that will violate the governing body’s mandate to face the organization’s No. 1 contender.
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 16: Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk face off during the Tyson Fury v ... [+]
Fury and Usyk will almost certainly rematch in October back in Riyadh.
Filip Hrgovic and Daniel DuBois are on pace to fight for that soon-to-be vacated title on June 1. Anthony Joshua will likely face the winner of Hrgovic-DuBois in September.
Fury plans to fight Joshua twice in 2025, assuming Joshua defeats the winner of Hrgovic-DuBois to win the IBF title. If everything goes as planned, those fights with Joshua would ideally be for the undisputed title.
If Fury were to navigate the first half of his 10-fight plan and win each fight, he’d not only rake in an enormous load of cash but also potentially cement himself as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.
Consider this: Fury would be 38-0-1 with at least 24 wins by stoppage. He would have defeated every great fighter of his era in his division at least twice (Deontay Wilder, Joshua, and Usyk) and remained undefeated.
His unblemished record would rival or exceed the resume of any heavyweight champion before him, and his strength of opposition would be irrefutable.
That said, accomplishing this goal will not be easy.
The Usyk fights present a challenge because of the WBO, IBF, and WBA champion’s speed and counter-punching ability. He’s also hungry to prove he is the best heavyweight in the world, as he already has two victories over Joshua.
Usyk has also been forced to wait for Fury to fight him. The latter put off one meeting for a crossover fight with Francis Ngannou and had the second date pushed back because of a cut suffered during sparring.
Joshua has appeared revitalized since his losses to Usyk.
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - MARCH 8: Anthony Joshua knocks down Francis N'Gannou for the 1st time during ... [+]
He has destroyed Robert Helenius via one-punch KO, outboxed Jermaine Franklin, outclassed Otto Wallin, and flattened Ngannou with a KO-of-the-Year candidate to re-establish himself as one of the absolute elite in the division.
Beating Joshua once–let alone twice–will be a significant challenge for Fury, who turns 36 in August. By heavyweight standards, Fury is still in the prime of his career, as fighters in the division can routinely have success into their early 40s.
Still, Fury has already been in his share of wars with Wilder, Steve Cunningham Wallin, and even Ngannou, who dropped him before losing a controversial decision. The bouts with Usyk could be taxing as well.
It will be interesting to see if he can maintain proper physical conditioning while putting together elite performances against the best in the division for another year and throughout his 10-fight plan.
