Where do you go when you have reached the top of the mountain?
The theory would suggest that the only way is down, and it’s a journey that heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury is going to have to plot very carefully.
The Gypsy King, as he is known, has never lost a bout in a career that spans some 13 years, and he is the current WBC belt holder. There are those within the sport who believe Fury is the true undisputed champion of the heavyweight division – the Brit was forced to relinquish his WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO gold after taking a near three-year hiatus from the sport in 2015.
But now, back at the top of his game, Fury has to plot his immediate and long-term future in boxing. Tackling Oleksandr Usyk for ‘all the marbles’, which would officially unify the division, is very much the end game, but in the meantime there are boxing betting odds available for potential clashes against Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua – both of which could be in the pipeline for 2022.
You won’t find many supporting the claims of either of those men in the market, and the fact that Fury is priced at -700 to defeat Whyte and -333 to conquer Joshua speaks volumes. Any column relating to tonight’s boxing predictions would confirm Fury’s superiority against either, given that both of the potential British opponents are ‘brawlers’ without the technical ability, you would think, to trouble the smooth-moving WBC king.
And so a scrap with Usyk could well be the retirement plan for Fury, who could hang up his gloves knowing he had conquered all in his path if he could overcome the tricky Ukrainian pugilist. It would be fitting if the Gypsy King could end his career with a unification fight on home soil, while Usyk has fought a number of times in the UK already – such a concept would not be an issue for him.
In an exclusive interview with the vaunted boxing writer Gareth Davies, Fury claimed he has “nothing left to gain, but plenty left to earn”, and that offers an insight into where his mindset is at. Already a multi-millionaire, the Brit has got dollar and pound signs in his eyes….
The $25 Million Payday
One of the reasons you suspect Fury will box on for a few more years yet is that he is a great entertainer, and takes pride in delivering ‘box office’ performances on the Las Vegas Strip.
His trilogy scrap with Deontay Wilder was a major draw both in terms of ticket sales and PPV buys, and with the winner’s purse added in for good measure – Fury won via eleventh round knockout – the Gypsy King pocketed an estimated $25 million for his troubles.
That swelled his net worth to a reported $105 million, which has been aided by an $80 million deal with ESPN and a handsome $15 million payout for appearing at the WWE’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.
Those are just some of the reasons why Fury, who has already reached the top of boxing’s mountain, will continue to fight on in 2022 and beyond.
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