Tyson Fury given unlimited time to defend his title against mandatory challenger

14 September 2023 , 10:30

771     0

Tyson Fury given unlimited time to defend his title against mandatory challenger

Tyson Fury won't be stripped of his world title due to the absence of a mandatory challenger - and has been given no deadline to defend his belt.

Heavyweight champion Fury hasn't defended his world title since stopping Derek Chisora in their unwanted trilogy fight last December. 'The Gypsy King' returns to the ring next month against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in a crossover fight, but his WBC belt won't be on the line because Ngannou is not ranked by the organisation.

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman defended Fury's fight against Ngannou by insisting the Brit is not to blame for his other planned big fights falling through. "He has been willing, able, and trying to fight Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz Jr or anyone and has not been able to land the fight that the fans would like to see. Instead of waiting around, he has no mandatory contenders, so he is going to do this special event in Saudi Arabia," Sulaiman told Gambling.com.

Do you think Tyson Fury should have been stripped of his heavyweight world title? Let us know in the comments section below

“He is not fighting Oleksandr Usyk because he was not ready last December. Then they couldn’t do it in March and then they went their separate ways. Anthony Joshua – the same thing, so don’t blame Tyson Fury. He has been there and been there ready. The mandatory contender is a rule to provide opportunities to the best contender in the division, not to be talked by the champion.

Deontay Wilder offers advice to Manny Pacquiao's son ahead of latest fight

"If you force the mandatory just for the sake of it, you are doing a disservice to the sport. We will not be rushing up a mandatory contender. We had ordered Wilder vs Ruiz and the winner would have been a sensational mandatory contender and that fight did not take place.

“They are not participating in it so there is no mandatory contender. Fury is the best heavyweight without a doubt. We would like to see Fury vs Usyk so we will not interfere in the plans to have a major showdown for all the belts so there is no hurry to find a mandatory contender and we will see what happens at the WBC convention.”

Fury has told Ngannou that he can call himself the lineal heavyweight champion of the world if he pulls off the upset by beating him on October 28. When asked if Fury's world title could be on the line in a potential rematch between the pair, Sulaiaman said: "I don’t like to anticipate things that are just speculation. We will see. That fight has to happen, and we will see what happens and from there we can make a ruling based on true facts."

Harry Davies