Tyson Fury has never shied away from a challenge but admits there are two men in his division that he would never agree to face.
Fury’s confidence has never been lacking, not least when he dared to step into the ring with Deontay Wilder, who was then the world’s most fearsome puncher.
The first time the pair met in December 2018 came after Fury had a long layoff, which added even more jeopardy. He survived a late knockdown to take a draw on the cards before twice stopping Wilder in rematches.
Most recently Fury took his first-ever professional loss when challenging Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title in May. He immediately signed up for a rematch and the pair will go at it again this December for three of the four major world titles.
Ahead of that and speaking to Jai McAllister: BOXING + MMA, Fury was asked if he would ever fight his long-time friend Joseph Parker, who shares Andy Lee as a coach, and he had a firm answer.
“Definitely not, no. I’d rather give him the belt than fight him for it. We’re too close for that, fighting. There are plenty of heavyweights out there. I don’t want to get beat up, sorry.”
Former heavyweight world champion Parker is on a hot streak right now having beaten Wilder and Zhilei Zhang in his last two fights.
The other man ‘The Gypsy King’ has now ruled out facing is Moses Itauma, whom he used for sparring ahead of his first fight with Usyk.
“No, definitely not! Do you think I’m stupid? No, no no.”
Itauma has won all 10 of his fights so far, 8 by stoppage, and is hoping to become the youngest-ever heavyweight champion but has less than a year to do that if he is to beat Mike Tyson’s record.
