Tyson Fury Denies Rumors He's in Talks to Fight Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua Winner

Tyson Fury denied speculation he's in talks to face the winner of the August rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.

Jeff Powell of the Daily Mail reported Friday an announcement was expected next week to confirm Fury would accept a December fight against either Joshua or Usyk in Saudi Arabia.

The longtime heavyweight boxing champion responded to the rumor on Twitter:

Fury said after his sixth-round TKO of Dillian Whyte in April he was going to retire, a stance he reiterated a few days later on the Piers Morgan Uncensored show (h/t ESPN).

"This is the truth, the gospel truth, nothing but the truth, I'm done," he said. "You know every good dog has his day and like the Roman leader said, there will always be someone else to fight."

While that may be an honest statement, anybody who's followed the fight game for more than 10 minutes knows retirements rarely stick for the sport's biggest names. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is on his third retirement, and he's still doing exhibition fights.

So Fury is going to face endless speculation about a potential return to the ring, especially since he's only 33 and continued to perform at a high level in recent fights.

The British superstar owns a 32-0-1 career record with 23 knockouts. He won back-to-back bouts against Deontay Wilder before the triumph over Whyte to keep himself firmly atop the heavyweight division.

He's never faced Joshua or Usyk, so either one would represent a fresh challenge if the rumors he's shot down ultimately come to fruition.

Usyk won the first meeting between that duo in September by unanimous decision to capture the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles.

The 35-year-old Ukrainian could represent a threat to Fury's reign atop the division if he takes down Joshua again, and there would be a lot of fan interest in that fight.

For now, however, it doesn't sound like Fury is anywhere close on agreeing on a return.