WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, speaking again with Sky Sports, says there is no rush as far as Tyson Fury making his mind up on whether or not he will vacate the WBC heavyweight title. Sulaiman said his organisation will support Fury “whatever he decides.” But if the WBC belt does become vacant, if Fury does stick to his retirement vow, what then?
Sulaiman said there is one full year before the next WBC heavyweight mandatory fight is due, and that when the time comes a tournament may take place to decide the new champion. Sulaiman fully expects Deontay Wilder to return to the ring and attempt to regain the title he lost to Fury.
“Certainly,” Sulaiman said in regard to Wilder being in contention to fight for the vacant WBC title. “Because he is the number-one ranked contender in the division. I spoke to him a couple of months ago, he is doing great and he is looking forward to resuming his boxing career. We have one year to have the next mandatory fight. At this moment, we will wait the decision of Tyson Fury, and then we will either do a series of fights – a boxing tournament – going into a final elimination, but at this time we’re going to wait because we don’t know the specific circumstances. I believe that Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker are fighting for the WBO interim championship, but I have not confirmed that. All of the variables may change.”
So it seems the ball is firmly in Tyson Fury’s court. It will be interesting to see how long Fury takes to make up his mind of his boxing future, as it will be interesting to see how patient the WBC will be with him. Will Fury drag it out, or will he make his mind up soon (or perhaps he has already done so but is not quite ready to become an ex-champ)?