Tyson Fury is absolutely adamant that he is retired, and that he ain’t coming back. Despite the fact that plenty of us strongly feel Fury will be back – be it later this year, next year, or the year after – the reigning WBC heavyweight champ says otherwise. This then means Fury will soon be vacating the WBC belt, and fans are interested about who may end up fighting for it.
Right now, former WBC heavyweight ruler Deontay Wilder is ranked as the #1 contender with the organisation, this despite the fact that Wilder lost his last two fights (to Fury) and he has not won a fight since back in November of 2019, when he took out Luis Ortiz with one monstrous punch, this in their second fight. And as per the current WBC heavyweight rankings, Joe Joyce sits at #2.
So, on paper at least, Wilder and Joyce could square off for the vacant belt, if Fury does indeed vacate. But as fans know, Joyce has signed on to face former WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker next, the fight to go down in July. Parker is currently ranked as the #3 contender with the WBC. If Wilder does come back – and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman recently gave an interview with Sky Sports in which he said he is “sure” Wilder will return to the ring some time this year – he could face the Joyce-Parker winner for the green belt.
And we fans would tune in for such a fight. Can Wilder become a two-time heavyweight champion? Is Fury correct when he says Wilder “beats everyone apart from me?”
But what if Wilder doesn’t come back? The Parker-Joyce winner will be in great shape and he could end up facing the #4 guy for the vacant belt. Currently, Frank Sanchez is ranked at #4. And we must wait and see what happens to Dillian Whyte, who was the WBC interim champ before Fury beat him last Saturday.
It’s always somewhat confusing when a dominant champion retires and vacates his title. The division, Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua aside, is pretty much wide open, and it is to be hoped the new WBC champ, whoever he is, goes on to face the Usyk-Joshua rematch winner sooner rather than later.
So who should be given the best shot at fighting for and winning the vacant WBC heavyweight title? Wilder, with his legendary punching power, could have a great chance if, A: he does come back, and, B: providing the punishing third battle he had with Fury didn’t take a good deal out of him (as it very well could have done).
Wilder Vs. Joyce, or Parker, or someone else for the vacant crown some time this year?