Tyson Fury has a shot at redemption against Oleksandr Usyk with a win making him unified heavyweight champion of the world. His path to securing the final belt could be a little more complicated.
The two top dogs first faced off back in May. Usyk ran out a split decision points winner to become undisputed but has since vacated the IBF belt, which was awarded to Daniel Dubois.
Dubois put a stamp on his status as champion with an excellent win over Anthony Joshua. He is now set to make a voluntary defence and it is expected that Joseph Parker will be announced as the man in the opposite corner.
Parker, a former WBO Champion, is on an impressive run in the division having beaten both Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. He trains under Andy Lee, who is also a part of Fury’s corner.
Fury and Parker are training partners and close friends. In an interview with Jai McAllister, the Brit said he would rather give the New Zealander a world title than fight him for it before joking that he would ‘get beat up.’
“Definitely not, no [I wouldn’t fight Parker]. 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.”
Fury has called his fellow heavyweight ‘a brother’. It’s a sentiment Parker shares. Back in 2022, he told TalkSPORT the match-up would ‘never’ happen.
“We have a great relationship, he treats me like a younger brother, his whole family looks after me. I’ve based myself here in Morecambe now. I’ve stayed in his house, I’m using his gym.
“I think I’ll never fight him. I’ll let him do his thing and fight everyone else. I’ll try to go another path and do my best to win the other belts if I can.”
The issue with that is that, to become undisputed, paths must collide. Famously, the Klitschko brothers Wladimir and Vitali held all four major titles between them for a two-year period from 2011. Of course, crowning one champion was off the table entirely then.
Fury and Parker aren’t blood related and, as much as they have said in the past, may be forced to make a significant choice on the matter if ‘The Gypsy King’ can topple Usyk and Parker continues his run of form to beat Dubois.
Fury rematches Usyk on December 21. An announcement for Dubois-Parker to take place on February 22 next year is expected soon.
