Tyson Fury has revealed that he wants to secure a new 10-fight boxing deal after facing Francis Nagannou in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, but ruled out the prospect of facing Anthony Joshua by claiming “that bird has flown”.
The Gypsy King claimed to have retired from the sport after knocking out Dillian Whyte in April 2022, but after holding onto his WBC world heavyweight belt, he performed a U-turn and returned eight months later to claim a stoppage win over Derek Chisora.
Fury has not thrown a punch since that contest in December last year but will take on former UFC world champion Francis Ngannou in a big-money crossover boxing match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, with the African making his professional boxing debut at the same time.
With the British star predicted to win comfortably, he is expected to face WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk next in a winner-takes-all championship unification bout.
But the 35-year-old has no intention of ending his journey there and regardless of the outcome wants to agree to a new deal that will keep him in the sport for years to come.
Speaking to ESPN, Fury said: “I’m looking to sign another 10-fight deal after this, so I don’t know, I’m going to put my feelers out there and see who I can get the best deal off for another 10 fights.
“What else is there? I retire, plenty of money, plenty of achievement, whatever – 35. What am I going to do? This makes me f****** happy fighting. This is all I’ve ever done and all that’s ever made me happy. So it’d be stupid now to walk away from it when I’m making millions of dollars and getting loads of joy from it as well.”
But when Fury was asked by IFL TV if a potential fight with fellow British heavyweight Joshua would ever happen, the Gyspy King said: “That bird has flown. Do you know why? Do you know why? Because there’s one sentence. They’re out in the cold, frozen. And that’s it.”
The proposed 10-fight deal will likely start with Usyk, but it was clear that Fury had no time for Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom stable, which he claimed had “gone down the toilet”.
Speaking to the Mail about Hearn, who is Joshua’s promoter, Fury said: “Eddie Hearn has to speak about that [a possible fight against Joshua] because his full stable has gone down the toilet. The only time he gets any relevance is when he talks about Tyson Fury so if I were him, I’d talk about Tyson Fury too. The golden goose is done.
“The fox has got in the pen and killed it, it’s over. All he talks about is Tyson Fury and that’s because it’s the only way he will get publicity. But, I told them in December, this is the final opportunity you guys are ever going to get to fight me so take it today or don’t. And they didn’t. So, they’re out in the cold. Frozen.”