Tyson Fury has dismissed reports he has held talks over fighting Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk in December.
Fury announced his retirement following his stoppage win over Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April, despite the prospect of a money-spinning undisputed clash against the winner of Joshua's rematch with Usyk. His promoter Bob Arum suggested Fury would come out of retirement if presented with the right opportunity, and the Daily Mail claimed talks had started.
But Fury took to social media to say: "This is all news to me! Biggest load of rubbish ever!" The report on Friday claimed the fight had already been pencilled in for December 17 in Saudi Arabia, between the semi-finals and final of the World Cup in Qatar.
Joshua and Usyk will also clash in the desert with their sequel set to be confirmed this week. It will take place in Jeddah on August 20, almost a year after Usyk outpointed his British rival at Tottenham's football ground.
Fury has repeatedly insisted he has no plans to pull on his gloves again despite his wife, dad and promoter claiming otherwise. Arum told Fight Hype: “Tyson Fury is retired and he will be retired until we come to him with the next big event and then he will unretire.
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“Well, I think Fury is going to wait to see how the [Anthony] Joshua fight comes out with [Oleksandr] Usyk, and then he’ll make a determination whether he wants to continue. Other than fighting the winner of Joshua vs Usyk, there’s really nothing that’s really of interest to Tyson Fury, so we will have to see.”
Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, also believes Fury will be lured out of retirement if Joshua wins back his belts. "I think if Oleksandr Usyk was to beat Anthony Joshua [again], I think he'd stay retired because I don't think he wants to fight Usyk," he said. "But I think if AJ wins, and I truly believe he will, then you will see the biggest fight in boxing."
