Tyson Fury Could Relinquish His WBC Heavyweight Title

The latest news out of the Fury fight camp is that Tyson Fury could relinquish his WBC Heavyweight title if the mandatory fight with Dillan Whyte isn’t scheduled before March 2022.

Potential replacements in the form of Andy Ruiz Jr and Joseph Parked have been named, whose main interest is to fight by March at the latest.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Fury’s US promoter highlighted the champ's current desire to get back in the ring, and with a mandatory order to fight Dillian Whyte was issued this month, the ‘Gypsy King’ has made it known that March is the latest he will wait.

Should this scheduling prove too challenging to organise a heavyweight title fight with Whyte, Fury could prioritize his in-ring activity over keeping the belt and waiting longer to compete.

“If we can’t come to a deal with Dillian Whyte, we’ll do a fight for the Ring Magazine belt and the ‘lineal’ title, and we’ll pick another opponent,” Arum told the reporters.

“We’ve got to get Tyson back in the ring by the end of March.

“Frank (Warren) and I are determined to come to him with an acceptable opponent, and we’d love to do that fight in Cardiff.

“Andy Ruiz Jr is a possibility, Joseph Parker, I see, had a good victory over Derek Chisora, and he could be a possibility, and we’re looking at a couple of other names that might be appropriate.”

Fury knocked out Deontay Wilder for the second consecutive bout back in October 2021, retaining his WBC title that he captured from the American in February 2020.

The undefeated ‘Gypsy King’ has been a long-standing favorite of boxing critics, fans, and bookmakers alike. Regularly receiving the favorable betting odds, Fury has continuously lived up to expectations every time a wager is placed on him. Even the contests Where the ‘Gypsy King’ is a considerable favorite can be boosted with New York promo codes for this or any future fight.

As for Dillian Whyte, he previously competed in March, knocking out Alexander Povetkin by knockout in a revenge fight.

Scheduled to fight in late October, Whyte withdrew from a contest with Otto Wallin due to an injury.

With everything taken into consideration, where would a vacated championship leave Whyte as the mandatory challenger?

Should Fury vacate the belt, a potential option could see Whyte and Deontay Wilder compete for the WBC heavyweight title. Fury’s frustration of a delayed set-up for the defense of his WBC strap could indeed stem into the new year, by which he’s expected to arrange an alternative opponent in Oleksandr Usyk.

Whyte has been hunting for a title shot for years but has not competed since March, including the withdrawal mentioned above in the October fight with Wallin.

Despite receiving consecutive knockout losses to Fury, Wilder has retained his No.1 ranking with the WBC. The ‘Bronze Bomber’ has flirted with retirement talks, but a chance to reclaim his WBC strap could undoubtedly appeal to the 36-year-old.

Fury could walk away from the WBC title defense at any moment, especially if the opportunity arose to face the WBA, WBO, and IBF champion Usyk next year. The Ukrainian, who also owns an undefeated record like Fury, is set to rematch with Anthony Joshua. Still, AJ has expressed his willingness to step aside for the Tyson/Usyk undisputed world title bout to occur.

Should Usyk and AJ rematch as planned, Fury could remain active whilst defending his Ring Magazine and lineal titles. If successful, it would set up the most significant heavyweight championship bout of the last decade versus AJ or Usyk.

This plan would also leave Whyte and Wilder open to face each other as the division's top-ranked WBO contenders.

Fury has been vocal about wanting Usyk as his next opponent, but the ‘Gypsy Kings’ long-time British rival AJ should be the rightful challenger. The latter was supported by Usyk, who recently stated he is not thinking about Fury. Although AJ said he would step aside for Fury versus Usyk, conflicting information would disregard this comment after Joshua activated his contractually-agreed rematch clause.