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Tyson Fury may be offered a world title fight before the fight with Anthony Joshua

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Tyson Fury could be offered world title fight before facing Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will face each other before the end of the year, but Tyson Fury is also on the champion’s hit list.

Having only fought Jake Paul since September 2024, Joshua booked the fight as a “warm-up” ahead of his legacy-defining talk with Fury later in the year, with Albanian Kristian Prenga selected as the opponent for the July match.

Meanwhile, Fury is also reportedly considering a fight ahead of his fight with Joshua, but no opponents have been scouted at this stage.

Enter reigning WBO heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley who said Sport of the Sun that “The Gypsy King” and Oleksandr Usyk are his ideal next opponents.

“His [Tyson Fury] or Usyk [would be ideal next]. Either way, I don’t care, let me know. Forthright [Warren]tell me who it is, just call one and let me know. I don’t mind, I’ll say it.

“I’ve said it 100 times, I want to compete with the best. I don’t know how much I can prove it in fights or in upcoming fights, or however I maneuver and cope – I want to compete with the best and prove myself.

“At every level, no matter how long in my career, I felt like this was his ceiling. So I thought, let me really go and find out what my ceiling is.”

Although Usyk has stated that he wants to determine the winner of this weekend’s Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois fight, recent events suggest that boxing mogul Turki Alalshikh will instead insist on facing mandatory challenger for the WBC title, Agit Kabayel, after his fight against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven later this month. If these talks go well, Fury will be Wardley’s number one target.

If “The Gypsy King” does want the fight before Joshua, Wardley’s offer – assuming he beats Dubois and has no mandatory challenger – creates both a chance to add weight to “AJ’s” world title shot and a huge risk that could ruin a huge fight by losing to one of the most perilous heavyweights in the world.

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Liam Smith Accused of Assault: Ex-World Champion Boxer Allegedly Punches Man on the Ground

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"Liam Smith Accused of Assault: Ex-World Champion Boxer Allegedly Punches Man on the Ground"

He added that the cameras also recorded Smith allegedly “pushing past people to resume the incident, punching someone on the floor”.

Judge Gilbart adjourned the hearing until 28 November. Smith was told to be ready to enter his pleas on that date.

The fighter, nicknamed ‘Beefy’, was granted bail with conditions not to contact Nke or to enter Manchester, unless to attend court, or for appointments with his solicitor.

Judge Gilbart fixed a provisional trial date for the week commencing 15 March 2028.

Smith, now of Formby in Sefton, was due to make a comeback in a fight on 4 September in Finland, but pulled out due to a calf injury, according to reports.

Smith, one of four brothers who all boxed professionally and all won titles at British level, has fought some of the biggest names in the sport including a defeat to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.

More recently he fought British rival Chris Eubank Jr twice, defeating him in the first fight in January 2023, before suffering a defeat in the rematch eight months later.

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Unbeaten World Champion Challenges Oleksandr Usyk for Cruiserweight Title Rematch

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"Unbeaten World Champion Challenges Oleksandr Usyk for Cruiserweight Title Rematch"

Oleksandr Usyk could be involved in one of the “biggest fights in cruiserweight history”, just so long as he is willing to drop back down to 200lbs.

The 39-year-old has not fought at the weight since 2018, when he became the undisputed king by dethroning Murat Gassiev with a wide points victory.

Usyk also defined his cruiserweight reign with a majority decision triumph over Mairis Briedis, before moving up in weight and becoming a two-division world champion.

He did so by dethroning Anthony Joshua in 2021, with the Ukrainian then winning their rematch and eventually facing Tyson Fury for all four major heavyweight belts.

Then, this past June, Usyk made the decision to vacate his titles after having become a two-division undisputed champion and secured a harder-than-expected 11th-round stoppage of former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.

Still, though, the decorated southpaw intends to fight for a short while longer and, according to Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, has mentioned a Fury trilogy and David Benavidez clash as possible options.

Speaking to Last Stand Podcastunified cruiserweight champion Benavidez said he would gladly face Usyk at his current fighting weight.

“The point I wanted to make when we’re talking about Usyk is: I don’t know if that would be at heavyweight or cruiserweight. Didn’t Usyk relinquish all his belts?

“In my opinion, it would be a bigger fight at cruiserweight because, once I capture this [WBC] title, that would be three belts [on the line]. It would probably be one of the biggest fights in cruiserweight history.”

While a potential Usyk showdown could be explored, Benavidez has already committed to facing WBC champion Michal Cieslak in December and verbally agreed to fight Jai Opetaia next year.

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Unbeaten World Champion Challenges Oleksandr Usyk for Cruiserweight Belt Redemption

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"Unbeaten World Champion Challenges Oleksandr Usyk for Cruiserweight Belt Redemption"

Oleksandr Usyk could be involved in one of the “biggest fights in cruiserweight history”, just so long as he is willing to drop back down to 200lbs.

The 39-year-old has not fought at the weight since 2018, when he became the undisputed king by dethroning Murat Gassiev with a wide points victory.

Usyk also defined his cruiserweight reign with a majority decision triumph over Mairis Briedis, before moving up in weight and becoming a two-division world champion.

He did so by dethroning Anthony Joshua in 2021, with the Ukrainian then winning their rematch and eventually facing Tyson Fury for all four major heavyweight belts.

Then, this past June, Usyk made the decision to vacate his titles after having become a two-division undisputed champion and secured a harder-than-expected 11th-round stoppage of former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.

Still, though, the decorated southpaw intends to fight for a short while longer and, according to Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, has mentioned a Fury trilogy and David Benavidez clash as possible options.

Speaking to Last Stand Podcastunified cruiserweight champion Benavidez said he would gladly face Usyk at his current fighting weight.

“The point I wanted to make when we’re talking about Usyk is: I don’t know if that would be at heavyweight or cruiserweight. Didn’t Usyk relinquish all his belts?

“In my opinion, it would be a bigger fight at cruiserweight because, once I capture this [WBC] title, that would be three belts [on the line]. It would probably be one of the biggest fights in cruiserweight history.”

While a potential Usyk showdown could be explored, Benavidez has already committed to facing WBC champion Michal Cieslak in December and verbally agreed to fight Jai Opetaia next year.

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