Tyson Fury's next step is subject to much discussion after his 'retirement' in the wake of his win against Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April. Many think that his next move will be subject to the result of Anthony Joshua's fight against Oleksandr Usyk in July, with a unification bout on the cards, but there are many avenues currently open to the WBC World Heavyweight champion.
Due to his ever-increasing fame, there is no shortage of lucrative options open to the self-styled 'Gypsy King', with the most concrete option currently being a fight against UFC heavyweight superstar Francis Ngannou. The Cameroonian was in the ring at Wembley after Fury's win on April 23, a sign that a fight could well be in discussion for the Morecambe based fighter.
Ngannou's status as unified heavyweight champion in the Octagon means that his future is a topic of constant discussion, and Salford born heavyweight Tom Aspinall has had his say on Fury's future. “Who doesn’t want to see that?” Aspinall told the The MMA Hour , as part of the build-up for his fight at UFC London in July.
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In the interview, Aspinall compared Ngannou's punching power and unorthodox style with that of Deontay Wilder, the man who has come closest to beating Fury so far in his career. He explained: “I want to see it with MMA gloves, because I actually believe — usually I’m rooting for Tyson and of course I would be in this one, but if Francis hits with them little gloves, he is so dangerous.
"He’s very unorthodox and I think that if Fury was going to lose to anyone in boxing, it would have been Wilder because he’s so unorthodox. And I think a similar kind of thing with Francis. And if you alter the rules slightly and put Tyson with the smaller gloves, I think it’s a little bit closer than people might think.”
Ngannou has offered his own views on a potential fight, telling reporter Ariel Helwani in April that a fight has to be on the cards : "The Tyson Fury fight has to be part of the discussion. That’s not an option. It has to be part of the discussion because if that’s not part of the discussion, it will never be. If I sign another contract now, basically the same model of the contract, I’m screwed. That’s not happening ever. So we have to figure out a way to implement this into a contract."
Ngannou will become a free agent at the end of his UFC contract, leaving him open to discussions over a fight with Fury, a crossover fight the likes of which is unpopular within the UFC, with Dana White describing a potential fight as such: “Because they’re f****** stupid,” White said. “F****** waste of time, energy, and money. I don’t know, it’s silly, but I get it. Everybody wants to try to—I don’t know. I don’t even know.”
