Tyson Fury is at risk of being stripped of his heavyweight title
Earlier this week, British newspaper Sunsport reported that Joshua and Wilder had reached an agreement to fight in the last months of 2023, but the location and date of the match have not yet been decided. In 2018, these two boxers negotiated a fight to unify the heavyweight championship, but it broke down.
The WBC recently ranked Wilder and Joshua as the number one and number two heavyweights respectively, meaning the winner of a potential bout between the two fighters would become the next title challenger.
Therefore, according to World Boxing News, Tyson Fury will be stripped of his WBC title if he refuses to fight the winner of the above match.
Tyson Fury won the WBC title after defeating Wilder by technical knockout in round seven at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in February 2020. After that, the British boxer defended his title by continuing to knock out Wilder in a rematch in October 2021, and technically knocked out compatriot Dillian Whyte in April 2022 and Derek Chisora at Wembley in December. /2022.
After that, Fury wanted to fight to unify all four of the most prestigious heavyweight belts with Oleksandr Usyk - the Ukrainian boxer who currently holds four WBA (Super), WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight belts, but negotiations broke down.
Therefore, Fury - the boxer nicknamed "Gypsy King" - turned to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on October 28. WBC confirmed that this fight will take place according to the official rules of professional boxing with 10 rounds and three judges applying a 10-point scoring system, but Fury will not lose the title if he fails.
In August, Joshua knocked out Finnish opponent Robert Helenius in round seven of the heavyweight match at London's O2 ring. Afterwards, manager Eddie Hearn revealed that Joshua planned to meet Wilder and Fury in the next matches.
However, Mahmoud Omeirat Charr - the German boxer who has held the WBA heavyweight title since September 2023 - believes that Joshua is mentally unstable after losing two consecutive matches to Usyk, losing four WBA (Super), WBO, and WBO heavyweight titles. IBF and IBO, and is not ready to face top fighters like Wilder or Fury.
"Joshua was having a mental breakdown, you could see it," Charr told Seconds Out. "Joshua was knocked out in his first match against Andy Ruiz Jr, then lost two consecutive matches against Usyk. Joshua looked broken, needed time and was not ready for Fury, Wilder or even me."
