Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are set to collide before the end of the year, but Tyson Fury is also on a champion’s hit list.
Having only fought Jake Paul since September 2024, Joshua has booked a ‘warm-up’ bout before a legacy-defining scrap with Fury at the end of the year, with Albanian Kristian Prenga selected as the opponent for his July outing.
Meanwhile, Fury has also reportedly considering a fight before he takes on Joshua, but no opponents have been explored at this stage.
Enter reigning WBO heavyweight world champion Fabio Wardley, who told The Sun Sport that ‘The Gypsy King’ and Oleksandr Usyk are his ideal next opponents.
“Him [Tyson Fury] or Usyk [would be ideal next]. One or the other, I am not fussed, let me know. Frank [Warren], tell me who it is, just call one and let me know. I have got no bother, I will say yes.
“Again, I have said it 100 times over, I want to compete with the best. I don’t know how much more I can evidence it in fights or in upcoming fights or however I manoeuvre and manage myself – I want to compete with the best and test myself.
“At each level, for however long in my career, it was like ‘this is his ceiling’. So I am like, let me really go and find out what my ceiling is.”
Despite Usyk stating that he wants the winner of Wardley vs Daniel Dubois this weekend, recent developments suggest that boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh will instead push for him to face WBC mandatory challenger, Agit Kabayel, after his fight with kickboxer Rico Verhoeven later this month. If those talks come good, Fury will be Wardley’s number one target.
If ‘The Gypsy King’ does want a fight before Joshua, the offer from Wardley – assuming he beats Dubois and does not have a mandatory challenger called – presents both an opportunity to add serious weight to the ‘AJ’ clash with a world title, but also extreme risk, potentially ruining the big fight by losing to one of the most dangerous heavyweights around.