Tyson Fury will return to the ring to fight Derek Chisora for the third time in December, Frank Warren has confirmed.
The bout between the pair will take place on December 3rd after a deal couldn't be agreed to fight Anthony Joshua. Fury had signalled his retirement after knocking out Dillian Whyte back in April, but he will now return and had been eyeing a contest with his long-time rival.
Fury and Joshua exchanged messages on social media before their respective teams got involved to try and finalise a fight, albeit unsuccessfully. The duo have long traded verbal blows and the Gypsy King claimed contracts were with Joshua's team and he failed to sign them by the deadline.
He has now turned his attention to Chisora, whom he will fight to complete a trilogy. Promoter Warren said: "Derek might give him more of a fight than Anthony Joshua - I just think he [AJ] is more vulnerable.”
Fury, who has never lost in his professional career, first beat Chisora back in 2011 at Wembley Arena. He then beat him again three years later after Chisora retired in the 10th round. The 38-year-old, nicknamed Del Boy, was last seen in the ring back in July, where he beat Kubrat Pulev via a split decision.
Fury had said that a decision was imminent and talked up the qualities of Chisora, who was one of Oleksandr Usyk's first heavyweight opponents. He said: "In my opinion, Chisora at least got a draw with Usyk. So I see Chisora every bit as dangerous as Usyk – if it is Chisora [that I fight]. Did you watch that fight? It was a very good fight, very close, and I thought Chisora deserved the draw minimum.
"I think Usyk’s manager had it as a draw as well, if I remember rightly. So Chisora is no pushover. If it is Chisora, he’s no pushover and if you’re not on you’re A game Derek will beat you to f***."
There is a clamour for Usyk and Fury to square off in the ring as they look to settle the heavyweight debate. The Ukrainian has stepped up from cruiserweight and established himself having twice beaten Anthony Joshua, most recently in August.
Usyk's next move could take him back to cruiserweight however, which would put any bout with Fury in doubt. He recently told Parimach: “I was thinking about returning to cruiserweight and getting a few more of the world belts. You know, being a heavyweight means you have to be really heavy. You must eat a lot. It’s not hard to fight with these giants, but it’s really hard to eat all the time. And now I work much more than I did as a cruiserweight, particularly in the training camps. I had to swim ten kilometres and train hard. At this moment I just want to stop and take a rest.
