Is Tyson Fury still lineal champion ?

Tyson Fury's claim would be under severe pressure at that point.
The winner of that fight could certainly claim the title and if Fury makes no effort to address it he'd lose recognition from even the most die-hard supporters of lineage, I'm sure.

But that's no reason to vacate the lineal championship now.

And what if Wladimir won your imaginary series ? Would Wladimir win the lineage away from Fury by beating AJ and Wilder/Povetkin ?

 

Tyson Fury turned 28 a couple months ago. Most likely he's going to be boxing until he's in his 40s. That's what he does. He fights. And we can seriously discuss his retirement when we're approaching the year 2030. Unless he decides to fight until he's 50.

I've always believed Fury would win and lose the title several times. He'll probably go to jail at some point. He'll probably become a really bad guy and then even more pious at some point.

The bottom line is Tyson Fury is the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world. Unless he turns up dead somewhere, we're in for a long, long ride with this guy.

This is just the first few chapters in his career. Mike Tyson announced his retirement after the Michael Spinks fight in 1988 because he hated boxing, and hated his managers and they were all against him and his wife and mother-in-law. Then he crashed his car into a tree and got a divorce and starting going insane. Then he pulled it together for a while and defended the title more. Then he went to jail. Then he came back. And he fought for almost another 20 years.

Tyson Fury was a gypsy who pocketed about $8 million US for the Klitschko fight. Of course he went off the deep end. He'll blow thru a lot of his money, if he hasn't already. He may not even know how to spend it all. His wife might leave him or threaten to. But he'll get his head sorted out. Then he'll get mixed up again. And he'll get it sorted out again. Rinse and repeat.

All REAL heavyweight champions are slightly insane. They always have been. Boxers in every weight division know there are certain people they "can't" beat who are much bigger than them. Anyone who has assumed the title of "World" heavyweight champion - like Fury has - knows they are supposed to be able to beat every person on the planet, and they are often challenged and threatened by people on a day to day basis. It drives most a little crazy.

We just haven't noticed it as much because the sport has basically ignored the heavyweight division for a decade. And there have been a ton of "paper" champs who actively avoid other boxers and don't really believe they can beat everyone.

But Tyson Fury isn't a paper champ.

The craziness surrounding the heavyweight champ is part of the sport's history. We're just in the middle of it right now, so people can't see the big picture.

And the big picture is Fury is going to be fighting so long most won't even remember this blip in his career years from now.

Joshua and Wilder are champs of different orgs. But Tyson Fury is the heavyweight champion of the world. And when he returns, he'll proclaim himself as such. And he'll be right. Until someone physically knocks him off the top spot.