Tyson Fury could still defend his WBC world heavyweight title this summer. The Mancunian was expected to face Joe Joyce after the recent breakdown in negotiations with Oleksandr Usyk. However, a loss to Zhang Zhilei has thrown a spanner in the works.
Promoter Frank Warren insists that Fury remains ‘in charge’ of his next move but that there is an option for him to fight in the coming months while Joyce looks to exercise the rematch clause in his contract with Zhang.
“Joe’s got that rematch clause,” Warren told assembled media. “And if he takes it, it’s obviously going to be a complication with anything to discuss alternative fights for him right now. And at the end of the day, Tyson’s the boss when it comes down to what he wants to do.
“If he wants to fight this summer, he’ll let us know, we’ll try to make it happen. We need to know pretty quickly to invoke something during the summer. Especially if we’re going to try and do something in a stadium in the UK, which is where he would need to fight to try and make it work here. But yeah, opponents, choices, that will all come down to a conversation with Tyson.”
Zhang is hoping to secure a fight with Fury after his sixth-round doctor’s stoppage win over Joyce. And according to The Sun, Zhang’s camp is looking to stage the contest at the 80,000-capacity Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing or at the MGM casino in Macau.
When asked what he wants next, Zhang told Seconds Out: “Tyson Fury in China. I feel like people were questioning about my conditioning and stamina after the Hrgovic fight. But for me, I have such a successful training camp. My boxing and conditioning trainers stayed on top of it.
“I know that Joe Joyce wanted to take this to deep water and drown me, but I’m here. You can drown me if you want, but I’m ready for twelve rounds.”
Zhang is now the WBO mandatory for Usyk. But sits behind WBA regular champion Daniel Dubois and IBF No1 contender Filip Hrgovic in the pecking order. The 39-year-old was unlucky not to pick up a result against the latter when they fought each other on the Anthony Joshua vs Usyk II undercard at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Saudi Arabia last August.