Tyson Fury has named Australian Demsey McKean as the frontrunner for his next fight, likely to take place in Australia at the end of the summer.
The world heavyweight champion wants to fight once more before the end of the year, when he is expected to face Oleksandr Usyk in an highly anticipated undisputed title clash. And it appears that a meeting with McKean in his home country of Australia is the next stop for Fury, who is keen to be a true champion of the world by defending outside of just the UK and America.
McKean is far from the top few heavyweights, but is an undefeated southpaw, which Fury says could help him to prepare for former cruiserweight champion Usyk. His management have confirmed that talks are underway, and now the Brit claims that he is closing in on a deal to fight in Australia.
"I'm looking to fight in Australia," he confirmed during a scrum with Australian media on Thursday. "Brisbane, Melbourne are the two frontrunners at the moment. We looked at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and today we're looking at another one here [in Brisbane] so it's very exciting for me.
"I met [Demsey McKean's] manager yesterday, he seems like a good bloke. He's a top ten heavyweight and definitely one of the frontrunners. Undefeated and six-foot-six or seven. He's a southpaw, for sure and even if the Usyk fight is happening later on in the year it'd be great preparation because he's a southpaw also, but maybe a couple of feet shorter... The bigger the better."
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Fury was also quizzed on a potential matchup with cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, who has been out of action after dethroning Mairis Briedis last summer. However, he is keen to take on a bigger physical challenge, and would rather not take on a cruiserweight coming up for the first time.
"I've heard of Jai Opetaia, he's a cruiserweight world champion," Fury added. "I was going to bring him over [to train] when I was preparing for Oleksandr Usyk a few months ago. I don't know how vulgar I can get with the talking to the press in Australia, I won't get too vulgar, however, these guys are like this big [around six-foot] and I'm this big [six-foot-nine]. We have divisions for reasons, and I'm sure they're called cruiserweights and not heavyweights."
Fury and Usyk are still in talks for a showdown in Saudi Arabia, with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder expected to square off in a No.1 contender fight on the undercard. All four of the fighters will be paid massive record-breaking purses for the pay-per-view showdowns, but it appears that Fury is the one who has yet to agree terms.
