Good decision - no more holding up the division, let the new guys through. And let's not accuse him of a duck, he's done his time. This content is protected I hope to god there isn't some underhand nonsense to inject these belts into the Fury-Joshua sideshow.
Hope he retires now having cleaned out two divisions and his final fight is an exhibition against John Fury. Assuming he was not injured in his last fight, he looked like an old man at the end of his career. It would be an outrage if he sold his legacy for money losing to fighters that he has already schooled twice.
Fair play to Usyk. There's no way Fury would do that- he'd happily hold the titles hostage forever fighting bums if he could.
Shame he has held it up this long to be fair for that last farce of a fight. No way Fury/AJ happens now in my view.
All points to him signing for Zuffa and fighting Opetaia for their heavyweight title.. anything but a Fury trilogy please
You could see Fury going for the WBC vs Kabayel or something like that. We'll see the AJ fight when they're both 45.
Jai has said numerous times he is not going to heavy until he has unified cruiser. Now maybe him and Wilder...
I don't actually mind Usyk wanting to clear out his 'era' whilst letting the next generation fight over the belts. In truth the next generation lacks a marquee star or a 'monster' (not that Usyk is a physical monster but remains unbeaten, perhaps unbeatable). But of a particular 2012-2026 phase he's the absolute standout and should answer to nobody. Wilder, albeit vastly reduced, would complete the set. Maybe he could knock over Dillian Whyte on the same night just to tick a box. Meanwhile we might just end up in an 80s-style competition to unify the division again rather than someone like Joshua buying their way through it. The only problem is there's no mainstream attraction so unless Itauma really is another Tyson and builds up a similar following, they won't be getting paid nearly as much as the AJ-Fury-Usyk era.
This puts the cat amongst the pigeons a bit. If Fury and Joshua are contractually locked into each other, does Itauma v Hrgovic even happen now unless they can attach a strap to it? Itauma is arguably first in line for one of the two or three belts, depending if Kabayel gets upgraded, and Warren will want someone in with Frank Sanchez if he’s sitting there for the IBF. Brick Top overnight has suddenly got a shot at controlling the whole division. Arguably the best day Queensberry have had in years. Eddie’s only hope is if Miller gets a shot at Gassiev. Frank is probably at the hairdressers as we speak getting it spiked up, with King on speed-dial for tips on how to keep it all locked down for the next decade.
I'd love Frank's reign of having the best heavyweight stable by miles to continue for a long time despite what tricks Turki will try and pull.
