Tyson Fury's potential upcoming fight against Oleksandr Usyk has already invoked mass excitement as the two best heavyweight boxers in the world look set to go toe-to-toe against each other in the New Year.
It became apparent soon after Fury, who toyed with and beat long-time pal Derek Chisora within 10 rounds at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the start of the month, should have been hunting bigger fish to fry at the peak of his powers and surpassing a reputation that the heavyweight boxing world has not seen over the past decade.
That would start with a potential bout against Usyk or Anthony Joshua, and even though a potential date with the latter has been touted for the last five or so years, reports now suggest that due to AJ's loss against Usyk back in August, a fight with the Ukrainian is closer and a bout may take place in early March.
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But what does 2023 have in store for the Gypsy King? We detail any potential events surrounding the world heavyweight champion.
Oleksandr Usyk
Fury's next fight is heavily likely to come against Usyk, with promoter Frank Warren announcing last Thursday that plans for a first bout between the pair are 'moving in the right direction'.
Early March is the date that has been billed, giving just over two months for both competitors to reach peak performance before they slug it out for bragging rights. With the fight likely to be held in Saudi Arabia and a date being set, it does seem like only a formality before the Gypsy King takes on Usyk what would likely be the most watched fight since Fury vs Deontay Wilder.
With the pair both entering their mid-to-late thirties, the sense of 'now or never' alongside both of their commitments in mentality to wanting to dominate the sport should set us up for a cracker.
Anthony Joshua
Having the mentality to dominate the boxing world is something that many credited AJ with at the start of his career, especially having toppled Vladimir Klitschko, Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin before losing to Andy Ruiz.
In recent times, however, AJ has been accused of failing to take on the best in the sport - namely Fury and Wilder - before losing twice to Usyk. It has been these losses that have seen Joshua's reputation somewhat dwindle, alongside his bizarre speeches after the defeats.
A fight with Fury has never been further away, and you get the nagging sense that if they were to finally go head-to-head in the years down the line, it would be somewhat of an exhibition fight - not what viewers want to see when there should have been a 'Battle of Britain' whilst both were at the top of their games.
Joe Joyce
Joyce wasn't even rumoured to be in the pipeline for Fury until the aftermath of the Chisora fight, which saw Fury and Usyk come to blows ringside just moments after the stoppage.
Out of nowhere, Joe Joyce stuck his neck on the line, telling Fury that he also wanted to get involved in a true showcase of fearlessness and guts; only for Fury to back his man. "Let's do me and you at Wembley, if we can't do me and you and that rabbit in a royal rumble."
Joyce is fresh off the back of a win against Joseph Parker in Manchester back in September, winning all but one of his fights via knockout. Could he upset Fury in one of the biggest shocks in boxing history?
15 fights a season?
Perhaps he could fight the Gypsy King, should Fury stick to his word at fighting an incredible 15 bouts next year. “Back in the day people used to fight 30 times in a year,” Fury said. “Today people fight once or twice. So here’s a challenge to Frank Warren and Bob Arum, how about we do like 15-20 fights next year? F*** it.”
It would certainly be unprecedented in this day and age to undergo so many fights in a short amount of time, especially reaching the age of 35. The most he has ever was his eight fights in 2009 - albeit at the age of 21, he may just be fitter than he is now...
Retirement
Essentially, that rules out the constant retirement shouts that Fury comes out with. We've seen time after time - especially after his Whyte bout and the third outing with Wilder - that Fury has announced he is to retire, spending time with his family and winding down from the sport that he has dominated over the past half-decade.
But, by calling out Usyk and Joyce in front of a 65,000-strong crowd at Tottenham and viewers around the world all tuning in, alongside his comments on fighting 15 times per season - it is hard to imagine Fury retiring any time soon. The Gypsy King seems set to stay.
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