Tyson Fury got everybody talking about him again this week after announcing he was taking on a new role. The boxer is teaming up with ex-Manchester United ace Wayne Rooney to co-manage the England squad for Soccer Aid’s charity match.
The 36-year-old took to social media this week to post a video of himself walking down the tunnel at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium with a reference to 2025 and a message of, ‘Did you miss me?’ It was in reference to his involvement in the annual game but many also interpreted it as a tease for his return to the ring.
Despite announcing his retirement earlier this year, 36 year old Fury hasn’t dismissed the idea of making an appearance on the pitch during the event. Expressing his enthusiasm, Fury remarked: “Tyson Fury: England manager. Who would ever have thought it?” He went on to say, “I have had some big fights in my career and the prospect of leading my England team to victory this June fills me with just as much excitement as any heavyweight fight.”
Fury announced his retirement from boxing in January after being beaten for a second time by Oleksandr Usyk. Whether the Gypsy King stays out of the fight game remains to be seen, with Fury having reversed his decision to quit on a number of occasions in the past.
And should he decide to lace up the gloves again, the WBC has opened a route for him to return straight to world-level competition after announcing he would be sanctioned to fight Agit Kabayel for the WBC’s interim belt. Kabayel won that strap with an impressive victory over Zhilei Zhang inside six rounds.
The German is now the clear candidate to be mandatory challenger for the full WBC world title, one of the belts held by unified champion Usyk, but it seems unlikely that the fight will go ahead.
Speaking to Sky Sports, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said: “We have been very flexible and supportive of the undisputed concept. We fought very hard to get to undisputed [at heavyweight] and we did not impose a mandatory on Fury in order to allow him to fight Usyk and we made it clear that the winner would do the rematch without any mandatory.
“The winner of Zhang-Kabayel is of the highest level. But also we are supporting [undisputed] again because how can you see Usyk lose a belt? That was horrible. Now they might fight again for undisputed with [Daniel] Dubois. We will see. We’re not going to push anything.”
But Sulaiman believes holding its interim heavyweight belt could lead Kabayel to major fights with Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder or even Fury, if he decides to reverse his retirement. However, the Morecambe man has shown no indication of returning to the ring.
“He retired, as you may recall, and the WBC supported him to fight Wilder, the first time and he made a hell of a fight,” Sulaiman added. “It was a draw and that led on to two great additional matches with Wilder, then to what we have seen in the past three or four years and now it’s a dream coming true what is happening [in boxing].
“I spoke to him. He told me he’s retired and I congratulated him. You go out and you have a beautiful family, you’re a multi-millionaire. But boxers have something. It is very difficult to step aside but I’m happy he’s retired. If he’s to change his mind and give it a try, I’m sure the medicals will be good, the option is open.
“We will [support an undisputed heavyweight title fight] and we will assess what is happening, what is the best scenario. [Kabayel] has the WBC interim championship that [he] can defend. There’s other big fights like Joshua, Wilder or eventually even Fury. So many other possible great fights.
“[Joshua,] he’s highly ranked in the WBC, he’s a legendary champion and we will support him of course. We are absolutely in support of just making sure that the best fights can happen.”
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/other-sport/tyson-fury-handed-route-world-31183132
