World Boxing Council (WBC) president Mauricio Sulaiman has embraced the possibility of a fight between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former unified champion Anthony Joshua.
Joshua is coming off back-to-back decision losses to IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Even with the losses, Sulaiman likes the idea of a UK showdown between career rivals Fury and Joshua.
“Fury made his mandatory defense in April. He is in a voluntary stage and the WBC will determine all the mandates of all the divisions at the convention in Acapulco in November,” Sulaiman told Sky Sports.
“Fury vs Joshua will always be an interesting matchup, especially for the UK. Fury is without a doubt the best heavyweight out there right now and he’s in his prime.”
Fury does not have a mandatory expiration at this time. The WBC orders a mini-tournament to crown its next mandatory challenger. Andy Ruiz defeated Luis Ortiz in the first leg. He will meet the winner of next month’s clash between Deontay Wilder and Robert Helenius, with the overall winner becoming Fury’s next mandatory opponent.
“The WBC has sanctioned those two bouts and the Board will review each division [in November]Sulaiman said.
Fury has offered Joshua a 60-40 money split.
The two sides are now discussing possible dates and venues, but many observers, including Fury’s co-promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, are highly doubtful that the fight will take place.
“I have seen that they are trying to change the date a bit because we officially have the Manchester United football ground booked for November 12, however they say it is too short,” Fury told Talk Sport.
“So what I have that is even better than that is Wembley Stadium booked for November 26 this year. And if he doesn’t want to go to Wembley at the end of November, I even have a December date for him: December.” . 3 in Cardiff.
“So take your little pick, dosser. There is no kink. One of them is 11 weeks [away]you’re 12 years old, so if a professional athlete who’s shredded all year can’t get fit in three months, there’s a problem.”
