Tyson Fury isn't bothered about receiving a knighthood - but would like to be receive the title of "Emperor of the North of England".
Heavyweight champion Fury, 34, is fully focused on a pencilled-in undisputed title fight against Oleksandr Usyk which is being targeted for the first quarter of this year. Fury defended his WBC title against Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora last year whilst Usyk fought just once, defending his unified titles against Anthony Joshua after winning them from 'AJ' the previous year.
Fury is without question one of the greatest heavyweights champions of the past decade as the Brit is unbeaten in 34 professional fights. He has also been praised for being a mental health advocate after voicing his struggles with depression during his fighting career. The Brit played down talks of receiving a knighthood for his accomplishments but is keen on receiving a different type of title from King Charles.
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"A few sportspeople have it. Sir Mo Farah, Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Lewis Hamilton, Sir Andy Murray. Well if all them people have had it, then I'd like something that no one else has had, especially a sportsperson," Fury told The Telegraph. "I’m a normal man but a limited edition, so I’d like something different. Maybe King Charles could make me the Emperor of the North of England."
Fury is hoping to remain on home soil for his planned fight against Usyk, stating: "Ideally I'd fight Usyk at Wembley Stadium. We have the best fans in the world, and if you want to see a proper boxing match you want to do it at home in a stadium in England. It's a huge fight here but my promoters have interest from the Middle East. So we’re waiting for the offer to come in, if they do, they do, and if they don’t."
"We have the ability in a short space to put this on, and why is it a short space of time? There’s a million sanctioning bodies with mandatories so Usyk will be dragged out of it and be forced to fight his mandatories. If it doesn’t get done early it doesn’t get done at all.”
Usyk is a former undisputed cruiserweight champion and won titles at heavyweight after just two fights in the weight class. Fury thinks his rival is too small for the division and will be "running away" in their undisputed clash. "I don’t think he’s big enough and strong enough to stand up to the punches and he’s a natural lighter man It’s a challenge, but he’ll be running away like a little b**** all night. I will hunt him down and when I get hold of him he’ll be crushed,' he added.
