Tyson Fury will be hoping to fight Oleksandr Usyk next if he beats Derek Chisora for the third time in their Dec. 3 clash in London.
The WBC heavyweight champion is targeting an undisputed fight with Usyk who holds the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles after defeating Anthony Joshua in back-to-back bouts.
Provided he gets over his fight with Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next month, Fury insists he will be ready to fight the Ukrainian in the first quarter of 2023.
However, ‘The Gypsy King’ already has an alternate opponent in mind should he refuse to fight him for any reason – and that man is British heavyweight contender Joe Joyce.
“Usyk is at the top of the shopping list – provided I go through it. If Usyk doesn’t want smoke in February, then let’s do [Joe] Joyce at Wembley,” Fury said in a video posted to the Queensberry Promotions YouTube channel on Tuesday.
“You heard it here the first time. Joe, put on your skates, get in shape, moosh, because if the middleweights don’t want no smoke, you’re in. ‘Cause I fight three times the next year, and you can be one of them.
Joyce recently increased his perfect boxing record to 15-0 by becoming the first man to stop former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker when they clashed at Manchester’s AO Arena earlier this year.
The 37-year-old is Usyk’s mandatory WBO championship challenger but could instead fight Fury despite not being ranked by the WBC after picking up an interim title at another organization.
After watching Joyce beat Parker, Fury took to social media to congratulate his fellow Briton who he says is better than any other heavyweight apart from him.
“I had a great day watching boxing, watching all the big fights and studying all the heavyweights,” he said.
“I have to say the great Joe Joyce is the second best heavyweight in the world, behind me.
“And on that day, given his timing, who knows if he could beat me or not? I think we’ll have to find out one day.