ISTANBUL, Turkey – Earlier, Tyson Fury spoke to BoxingScene and other members of the press and informed them that he was happily retired and that he’d only consider a return for a third bout with Oleksandr Usyk.
Well, it looks as though he has changed his mind.
Fury has been attending an event held by the International Boxing Association (IBA), an organization that in principle hopes to become a singular association governing the entirety of the sport – from amateur to professional. The IBA do not consider themselves a boxing promoter, although they host boxing events and hope to work with the four currently recognized sanctioning bodies.
Fury attended a press conference earlier today alongside others, including Terence Crawford and IBA president Umar Kremlev. Fury was asked the question if he would consider a return to face Anthony Joshua for the IBA Pro heavyweight title and he replied: “Of course. 100 per cent. Show me the money, Umar [Kremlev]! I haven’t got an IBA PRO belt, but I’m available — I’m young, free, single and ready to mingle!”
That represented a difference from what he said earlier, and since today’s press conference it seems as though Fury has been busy.
“Having been here and around all the media and all the boxing things and that, I've had four offers in the last six hours to come back,” Fury revealed. “I think it's like, ‘Oh, well, he must be going to come back now. He's around boxing again. It's hard to walk away from that. I won't say they're earth-shaking. They aren’t groundbreaking offers, let's say that. We know I don't work for cheap.
“Let's just say that I'm going to contemplate it,” he continued. “I'm going to think about it. I spoke to Paris [his wife] in depth about it earlier on, and she said she will support me no matter what I want to do. Maybe it's because she wants rid of me … or maybe it's just like she's going to support me no matter what I do. She's my ride or die, so if we die, we die. If we live, we live. That's our behaviour. I'm looking forward to contemplating the idea of returning, taking it all on board and I'll make a decision within the forthcoming few months.”
“Who is the dream opponent?” Fury was asked next. Which is an interesting question to ask someone who is supposedly happily retired. Regardless, Fury had not one answer but two.
“I think the all-British fight with Anthony Joshua would be big obviously, and I've always said if we both went to our grave without fighting each other, it'd be a travesty for British boxing no matter when it is, or how, what, where and when,” he replied. “But I feel like what I want is revenge. Do you know what I mean? But I don't want it in any other country but England if that makes sense.
“I only want to fight this fella Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley in front of 100,000 people and lift the belts once again and become a three-time champion. That'd be my dream. But other than that, my second dream would be to do a massive fight with Anthony Joshua.”
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, has stated that all Fury has to do to make the all-British heavyweight match is to give Joshua a call. Fury agreed that that could be a good idea should he decide to return, but admitted there would be conditions.
“I'm a prizefighter first. If the money's right, then we can do a deal,” Fury said. “If the money's not right, there's no deal, is there? Deal or no deal, I say no deal. Pointless. Because you need rewarding for the risk you take. And it'll be a barnburner, trust me on that. We'll both … I reckon I'll hit the floor and I know he's going to hit the floor, for sure. Might have to get up off the canvas to win, I don't know. But I envision a hell of a fight; like one of the great fights of British boxing; like Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno years ago. I think we could put on a better show than that.
“The business side of things is irrelevant. That's between me and Joshua. And if we did fight, I think it'd be a level playing field. I wouldn't want to take advantage of him, or him versus me. Same kind of thing.”
Fury, however, hinted that there may be something even bigger brewing.
“I have something bigger than all of this up my sleeve,” he said. “Bigger than all these fights up here. And it might just happen. I'm trying to put this deal together right now and it's bigger than AJ. It's bigger than Usyk. It's bigger than [Daniel] Dubois. And it's bigger than all of your TV stations that you might have heard of.
“I'm leaving it there. Good night and God bless you.”
