What’s Next for British Heavyweight Boxing?
The British boxing scene has produced some truly great heavyweights in the past century, from Don Cockell and Henry Cooper to Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis. Most recently, Tyson Fury has cemented his legacy alongside some generational boxers but there is a distinct lack of news or movement on when his next fight will be.
There is no shortage of heavyweight boxing talent in the UK, however, they all seem to be operating at a level slightly below that of the reigning WBC champion Fury, such as WBA 'Regular' champ Daniel Dubois; there's not much chance shared promoter Frank Warren will put these two in the ring together.
That poses the question, what’s next for "The Gypsy King", and more importantly, what’s next for British heavyweight boxing as a whole?
Tyson Fury Domination
A unification bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is seemingly on the cards, although the former appears reluctant to meet the payment demands of the Ukrainian, sating that a 50-50 split is out of the question. This leaves the heavyweight division somewhat in limbo.
With Fury lacking real challengers to his throne, he has even sparked up conversation about a potential crossover clash with Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion. The Cameroon-born MMA star relinquished his title following back-to-back defences when contract talks with the UFC broke down. The vacant title is soon to be contested and betting on Jones vs Gane is heating up, with the former emerging as an early favourite on his return.
There is plenty of money to be made in a Fury vs Ngannou fight, as the worlds of boxing and MMA collide. There is little in it for Fury’s legacy, but who can blame him? He has cleared out the heavyweight division and there aren’t many British boxers deserving of a shot against the 6ft 9” self-proclaimed behemoth. And the ones that are, are promotional stablemates, causing a bit of a confict of interests for Warren. Pairing Tyson Fury and Joe Joyce together will be seemingly easy to do, but what outcome will Warren want most? He'd likely want his biggest asset, Tyson, to continue his unbeaten run, same goes for Joyce, but one will have to lose their perfect record and, with it, lose a lot of stock amonigst fans.
Three times he has beaten Derek Chisora, as well as a victory over Dillian Whyte. A fight against Anthony Joshua was appealing once upon a time, but successive defeats have left the boxing world wondering if he could test Fury in any way. This is the bout that fans will likely still want to see, but AJ needs a convincing win or two under his belt. He is scheduled to fight Jermaine Franklin on April 1st – the 24-3 Joshua needs a knockout.
April’s Assignment ???? @DAZNBoxingpic.twitter.com/6Vka6LV5aX
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyjoshua) February 9, 2023
Is Tyson Fury the Greatest British Boxer Ever?
It’s hard to argue against Fury as the best Brit to pull on a pair of gloves. His 2015 victory over boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko will go down as one of the best performances in the history of the sport. It was a complete display of expert technique and almost signified a changing of the guard in the heavyweight division.
To then return from a two-and-a-half-year lay-off and rise back to the summit of the division, stopping the powerful Deontay Wilder twice along the way, is quite remarkable. He has almost strolled to victory in recent bouts against compatriots Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora, emphasising his status as the top dog in British boxing.
Potential fights against Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua certainly whet the appetite. Should Fury come out on top of a unification bout with the former, we could be in for an epic all-British showdown.
????There is Only One Tyson Fury????
Proud WBC Heavyweight Champion of The World. pic.twitter.com/kbK6vEqg01
— World Boxing Council (@WBCBoxing) February 23, 2023