With Tyson Fury confirming his inevitable return from his latest boxing âretirementâ, here are five next fight options for âThe Gypsy Kingâ…
Six months have passed since Fury announced his fifth so-called retirement from boxing. But, as we’ve come to learn with the former two-time world heavyweight champion, his words need to be taken with a pinch of salt, and it was only going to be a matter of time before he went back on his word.
This moment came at the start of July as the ‘Gypsy King’ revealed his intention to return to the ring to have a third fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
He even provided a date and venue, claiming the trilogy bout will take place at Wembley Stadium on April 18, 2026.
Time will tell whether that turns out to be true; a few unsteady variables could ruin his plans for next April. With that in mind, here is a five-man shortlist of potential next opponents for Fury…
Anthony Joshua
The long-awaited bout with Joshua is the fight that Fury should be calling for next, as really, it’s the only one to make.
Fury vs Joshua is one of boxing’s biggest what-if fantasy fights, as the bout between the best two British heavyweights of their era should have happened a long time ago.
Before Turki Al-Sheikh’s days as the global head of boxing, bitter disputes between promoters and broadcasters prevented the best fights from being made, with Fury vs Joshua a prime example.
Over-inflated egos got in the way of this bout being sanctioned while each man was in their prime, so we are left with the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao scenario of Fury vs Joshua happening as they are on the downturn en route to their legitimate retirement.
Still, Fury vs Joshua arguably remains the most clamoured-for fight in this century, and, after each man came unstuck against a superior all-time Ukrainian great, it is their respective clearest remaining option.
This would finally settle who is the best in Britain and the second-best heavyweight of this period, which could be decided by them facing off once, twice or even three times to earn a fortune and go out with a bang.
Oleksandr Usyk
Alternatively, Fury could get his way and complete a trilogy with Usyk after coming up short for a second time on points against the two-weight undisputed world champion.
Fury’s display in the second fight was stronger than the first, in which he was pinballed around the ring by the smaller man as the ropes (and charitable referee) saved him from a knockout defeat. But Usyk was still the clear winner of the rematch, with most boxing purists in agreement that the right man had their hand raised.
Despite this, Fury remains insistent on calling bullsh*t regarding the outcome. He has demanded that the next fight must take place on home turf at Wembley to supposedly level the playing field after alleging foul play from the judges.
In reality, Fury is in denial and seemingly cannot accept that he has lost twice to a better fighter. But if this is what he needs to inspire him to get out of bed and train hard, all the power to him.
Fury did come up short on both occasions against Usyk, but there is no shame in that, with ‘The Cat’ widely accepted to be among the best heavyweights (and cruiserweights) of all time. And while it’s hard to be mad at the prospect of another thriller between two elite-level technicians, the outcome would likely be the same, and there is far more intrigue with the Joshua fight.
Daniel Dubois
The first man in line to take the mantle as the current No.1 British heavyweight could throw a spanner into the Usyk-Fury III plans when he rematches the Ukrainian later in July.
Despite being only 27 and having 24 fights as a professional, Dubois has been on a remarkable rollercoaster in his career so far.
From suffering immense lows in losses to Joe Joyce and Usyk amid accusations of being a quitter, he has matured in the spotlight and come of age as he dismantled Joshua at a packed Wembley Stadium in September 2024.
Now, Dubois is in final preparations to right the wrongs of his loss to Usyk as he attempts to become undisputed at heavyweight later this month.
Coming off the statement win and performance against Joshua, Dubois is being given a far greater chance of causing an upset against an ageing Usyk this time, though it would require his best performance to date to get revenge and avoid being schooled again by a far greater pure boxer.
Should he come through, Dubois’ confidence would be through the roof and he would be right to demand a showdown vs Fury.
The ‘Gypsy King’, meanwhile, would fancy his chances of producing a repeat of the showings in the iconic trilogy vs Deontay Wilder by taming a renowned heavy-puncher.
Filip Hrgovic
There is also the realistic prospect that Fury has a warm-up fight before the end of this year to shake off the cobwebs before pursuing a mega-fight against Joshua, Usyk or Dubois in 2026.
Were this to be the case, Fury cannot repeat the embarrassing Francis Ngannou fiasco; he needs a suitable test against a good-level opponent to properly prepare for what may come next year.
And should Fury pursue this route, Hrgovic stands out as an obvious pick. The Croatian was long heralded as the future of heavyweight boxing, but Dubois’ brutal beating of the former Olympian exposed him after he benefited from promoter Eddie Hearn’s overselling.
So Hrgovic won’t reach the level expected of him, but he got back on the horse with a win against Joyce in April 2025 and will face another opponent he should beat in August, David Adeleye.
It would be back-to-back decent wins for Hrgovic if he comes through Adeleye, but the heavy loss to Dubois proved his ceiling, as he has come up short when stepping up to world level.
Still, Hrgovic has name value in the UK, is high-ranked with several governing bodies and would be a live opponent for Fury, so fans should accept this match-up as it’s far tougher than your Tom Schwarz’s and Sefer Seferi’s.
Fabio Wardley
Finally, Fury could capitalise on the hype surrounding Wardley to have an all-British homecoming fight at a stadium, which should be easy to negotiate given they are both contracted to Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.
Wardley, who had little amateur experience, has massively surpassed expectations in his 20-fight professional career. His rawness plays in his favour as he’s unorthodox and difficult to work out, while his incredible punch power is an equaliser in any fight against any opponent.
In his last fight against respected amateur Justis Huni, Wardley was outboxed in each round before he floored his opponent with a devastating right hand to end the fight in the tenth round.
Wardley’s one-punch knockout ability makes him a must-watch commodity and there would be plenty of excitement surrounding a fight with Fury, though the preference would be Joshua or other rivals at a higher level.
He would be a dangerous opponent, so Fury would have to be switched on and prepare better than he did for Ngannou. But the Gypsy King is at a much higher level than Huni and can take a shot better, so he has the tools to evade and withtake the power punches to build momentum before targeting another world title triumph next year.
