Who Should Tyson Fury Fight After Win over Deontay Wilder?
Did we just see what we think we saw?
That's the question from Las Vegas in the wake of Tyson Fury's convincing overthrow of WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder, which left the ex-champ bleeding from the mouth and ear and prompted the new titleholder to do the impossible: actually cajoling Bob Arum to join in on a chorus of "American Pie."
Toward that end, what happened in the Nevada desert will thankfully stay in the Nevada desert.
But the change in the heavyweight order does warrant other worthwhile queries too, particularly relating to the sudden superstar's immediate plans with his bejeweled green belt.
We at B/R headquarters are particularly interested in that one, so we've revived our longstanding fight-night tradition and come up with a list of the best possible (or at least most likely) foes for Fury once the oxygen-sopped casino revelry fades and he gets back to the fighting business.
Take a look to see what we've come up with—and to see how your list matches up with ours.
7. Charles Martin
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OK, fine. We'll play along.
Though neither Charles Martin nor Gerald Washington is particularly recognizable to boxing fans, each nevertheless found himself in the final run-up bout on what's bound to wind up as one of the year's most purchased pay-per-view shows.
So while the match was billed as an eliminator for a shot at Anthony Joshua's IBF title belt, it's a consequence of proximity that Martin—who beat Washington by sixth-round TKO—is automatically a potential challenger for Fury should higher-profile bouts with others not instantly materialize.
Martin had already been reported as a potential tune-up for Fury before the Wilder rematch, which probably means, should the new WBC champ desire, a breather fight before reascending the division's competitive and lucrative mountains—read: Wilder trilogy, etc.—it wouldn't be such a hard deal to get done.
Short of that, though, let's not kid anyone. It's not particularly necessary.
6. Luis Ortiz
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He had two shots at the loser, so there are those who will say he's got zero business with the winner.
But to the purists among us, Luis Ortiz does represent something compelling.
The Cuban veteran had Wilder on rubbery legs in their first go-round in 2018 and then outboxed him for six full rounds when they got together again in November.
And while it's true that all he's got to show for his trouble are his only losses in 33 fights, he's still got enough size, skill and pop to suggest he would be just as tough an out for the British king as he was for the American.
Yes, other possibilities exist. So it's down this low on the list for a reason.
Still, if Fury is seeking a first WBC title defense against someone with a slightly higher blend of name recognition and street cred than Martin, he could do a lot worse than Ortiz.
5. Deontay Wilder
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Make no mistake, a trilogy fight between Fury and Wilder—given the stipulations baked into contracts—probably will happen at some point.
But given the severity of the beating Wilder took Saturday night in Las Vegas, and the suggestions made by many that he lost the first time around too, does it need to be next?
The vibe here is no. And maybe not at all given other choices out there.
But it's hard to say how the ex-champion feels given that he was whisked from the MGM Grand to a local hospital and didn't attend the post-fight press conference. And the comments he made to ESPN+ reporter Bernardo Osuna in the immediate aftermath of the loss didn't help much, either.
Beyond vaguely suggesting he would return at some point.
There were no emotional demands for another run-in with Fury, who dropped him twice, battered him persistently and didn't give any indication that the result would be different anytime soon.
"Things like this happen," Wilder said. "The best man won tonight. But even the greatest lost and came back."
Fury, meanwhile, all but guaranteed it will happen, but didn't exactly commit to a timeline.
"Deontay will need time to recover from the fight, but I'm almost sure he'll take a rematch because he's a dynamite puncher," he said at the post-fight press conference. "Any time, he could take someone out. With that danger, you're always in a fight. I'm pretty sure we'll do it again. We'll run it back again."
One thing is certain, if Arum, Wilder and his Premier Boxing Champions team can make people come back in six months and buy into Wilder-Fury III for another $85 or so per shot, they would have pulled off the promotional job of the century.
4. Jarrell Miller
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Jarrell Miller was this close to a shot at glory.
The big-talking Big Baby had gone through the requisite press conference posturing and training camp preparation ahead of a planned mid-2019 meeting with Joshua before disaster struck—twice.
A pair of failed drug tests cost him his spot on the Madison Square Garden marquee, not to mention a subsequent suspension that's prolonged a period of inactivity stretching all the way back to a fourth-round KO win in November 2018.
But once Arum and his Top Rank cavalry rode in and offered the Brooklyner a multi-fight contract, the heaviest of the recognizable heavyweights became a player once again.
And no less an admittedly partisan authority than Dmitriy Salita, who promoted Miller into the scuttled Joshua shot, still believes his American ally can conquer Fury's share of the British empire as well.
"He is arguably the best undefeated heavyweight in the sport of boxing right now alongside Tyson Fury," Salita told Phil LoGreco (h/t Phil Jay of World Boxing News). "But I think Jarrell is a better fighter than Tyson Fury."
3. Andy Ruiz
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You know the old saying: One man's failed drug tests are another man's Christmas presents.
Or something like that.
Anyway, when Miller abdicated his spot on the soon-to-be-a-heavyweight-challenger throne, he cleared the way for the equally fleshy presence of plucky Californian Andy Ruiz Jr., who went on the shock Joshua—and the world—with a seventh-round stoppage in midtown Manhattan.
The clock struck midnight for Ruiz in a one-sided rematch just six months and one Snickers ad campaign later, but the collateral earned from his 189-day reign could still carry some compelling, erm, weight.
He and Fury, in fact, might have been a little hungry during a back-and-forth sniping match last summer.
Fury lashed out during Ruiz's brief title run, insisting to TMZ that he could beat the then-champ with a hand tied behind his back.
Ruiz clapped back on social media (via Peter Thompson of Sporting News) after Fury's follow-up struggle with Otto Wallin, suggesting the Gypsy King's iffy effort against the Swede rendered the one-hand claim invalid.
So now that Fury's on top, put it all together—complete with a Snickers-logo canvas and a structurally reinforced ring, of course—and you have got yourself a grudge match.
2. Oleksandr Usyk
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The most popular guy on a football team, among many fans at least, is the backup quarterback. And in boxing, similarly, the most popular guy in a given weight class is the one who's never been tested.
Such is the heavyweight life being led these days by one Oleksandr Usyk.
The 2012 Olympic champion was without peer as a professional cruiserweight, winning a title in just his 10th fight and proceeding to defend it six times while copping three other straps in the subsequent two years.
Having nothing left to prove below 200 pounds, the Ukrainian scaled up to 215 for his most recent outing—a seven-round defeat of 38-year-old gatekeeper Chazz Witherspoon—and instantly became the most compelling new meat for those at the top of the big-man mountain.
He's conveniently ranked No. 2 by the WBC. And he's already been on Fury's radar, though the new WBC champion's initial salvo regarding him wasn't exactly complimentary.
In fact, Fury turned to social media to dub Usyk a "cruiserweight bum" after the WBO bypassed Fury and installed Usyk as its No. 1 heavyweight contender when he moved up.
Usyk responded with his own Instagram post, in which he advised Fury "don't cry."
So in keeping with their preferred means of banter, just go ahead and #SignTheContract to #MakeTheFight.
1. Anthony Joshua
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We know. Surprise, surprise.
Right?
While ardent supporters of the six fighters already mentioned might beg to differ, the only opponent that really and truly matters for Fury—now that he and Wilder have done their business twice—is Joshua.
The other UK-based superstar entered the weekend as the top heavyweight in the world, according to the Independent World Boxing Rankings, he holds the rest of the significant title belts in the division and he was tied for 13th among the world's richest athletes on the 2019 list compiled by Forbes.
Only one boxer, Canelo Alvarez, was placed higher on the list.
So unless the Mexican plans a surprise move to the 200-plus-pound neighborhood, Joshua is the man to see when it comes to breaking the bank.
And given the chronic jabbering between he and Fury as England's favorite heavyweights since Lennox Lewis, there's never been a more natural—and necessary—time for it.
Fury is a seemingly prime 31 years old, but his history shows that personal turmoil is never far away. And while Joshua emerged victorious from the Ruiz rematch, the dubious nature of the initial result suggests that too many hors d'oeuvres before the main course could scuttle the whole meal.
It's no wonder, then, that promoter Eddie Hearn, who works with Joshua, took to Sky Sports after the fight to kickstart the "undisputed" lobbying.
"Fury was brilliant, and the tactics from [trainers] Sugarhill Steward and Andy Lee were spot on," he said. "For me, we should go straight into AJ vs. Fury next. No one wants to see a third."
And there it is. Gentlemen, start your superfight.
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