Don’t call it a comeback!
Tyson Fury’s long-awaited return to the ring is gathering momentum and it would appear as though he knows who he wants to fight after his two years out.
Fury hasn’t fought since his comprehensive victory over Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf in 2015, when he unified the heavyweight division in stunning style.
But Fury’s time at the top was short-lived as he saw rematches with the Ukrainian cancelled due to a series of issues on Fury’s part; including injury, psychological troubles and traces of cocaine showing up in a blood test.
‘The Gypsy King’ has finally learned of a date for his UK Anti-Doping hearing and is expected to see his licence reinstated before the year is out.
And with the ultimate goal of an all-British showdown with Anthony Joshua, Fury has identified the man he would like to face in the first of an expected couple of fights before he shares the ring with ‘AJ.’
“I still believe I can out-box most of these guys,” Fury said on talkSPORT.
“I watched a fight this evening with Manuel Charr and Alexander Ustinov for the vacant WBA heavyweight title and I’ve got to give credit to both of these guys, they’ve been beaten and battered up and down.
“Charr has had an operation where he almost died, got stabbed and had an operation – to end the year the year with a world heavyweight championship and to become the first guy from Lebanon slash Syria to be heavyweight champion of the world – that is an awesome achievement.”
Fury has had previous with Charr and the pair clashed at an event in Cologne earlier this year.
Fury has not attempted to keep his weight struggles to himself and has embraced the fact that he has a long road to full fitness ahead of him.
At his heaviest, he weighed 27 stone but he’s already dropped four stone, having upped his training and taken more care with his diet.
“I think on the return I’m going to aim to be around late 18’s maybe even early 19’s because I am such a big guy,” he revealed. “I’m going to try and bulk up a little bit.
My & my mate @Tyson_Fury @HattonGym today. Both in the shape of our lives. Bring it on.🥊 pic.twitter.com/GGuTRvjLMc
— Ricky Hatton MBE (@HitmanHatton) November 23, 2017
“For the comeback fight, for somebody like Manuel Charr or somebody not of the great caliber of Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker maybe I could come back at 19 odd stone.”
There were rumblings of a potential clash with Tony Bellew after the Liverpool fighter’s original opponent, David Haye, pulled out of a rematch next month with an arm injury.
Fury didn’t hesitate to throw his hat in the ring for a bout next May and Bellew surprisingly didn’t back down from the challenge but, right now, Fury seems to be looking at the 31–4 Charr for his comeback.
He added: “Not many people wanted to see the winning of Charr-Ustinov for the vacant WBA belt but now I think that makes quite a bit of sense because Manuel Charr has just won the belt and I think he makes quite a lot of money through fighting me.
“It also gives me the opportunity to become a two time heavyweight champion of the world in a relatively comfortable fight that I believe would be comfortable for me in winning.”
