Following an uneventful year for the ‘Gypsy King’ inside the famous squared-circle, the British superstar will be looking for a busy and successful 2025
Despite suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk, there’s a slim chance 2025 could be a successful year for two-time heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury.
It’s been a tough year if you’re a fan of the ‘Gypsy King’. In May, the 36-year-old British sensation had the chance to add to his glittering CV and prove why he’s one of the greatest heavyweight fighters, not just this century, but of all time. Chasing undisputed supremacy, the Morecambe brawler took on former cruiserweight world champion Usyk.
Many chuckled at the size difference, assuming it would be a walk in the park for the British heavyweight sensation. However, it was anything but for the 36-year-old. Fury was taken to school over 12, hard, gruelling rounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After suffering the first defeat of his professional career, the Englishman was chomping at the bit to exact his revenge inside the squared-circle.
In what served as a Christmas cracker for the boxing purists, Fury and Usyk laced up the famous gloves once again in a bid to settle the rivalry once and for all. In what was a razor-thin encounter, the ‘Gypsy King’ boxed superbly and proved why he’s one of the best this century… but it wasn’t enough to topple and dethrone his Ukrainian rival, losing for a second time via a convincing decision.
Now, Tyson is at a crossroads as he approaches the backend of what has been a remarkable career inside the ring, it’s fair to say that Fury still has plenty of options heading into 2025. With plenty of options in the shark-infested heavyweight division, a blockbuster showdown with former world champion Anthony Joshua seems most likely.
In what has been a mixed year for ‘AJ’ – the British sensation begun the calendar year with a jaw-dropping knockout win over former MMA champion, Francis Ngannou. The win seemingly booked himself a highly-anticipated dust-up with Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium. Despite the resurgence, ‘Triple D’ appeared to be too big of a challenge for Joshua – who suffered a brutal knockout defeat in the fifth in front of well over 90,000 in attendance. That said, a chance to take on long-time rival Fury in 2025 will be too good to turn down.
Speaking to Sky News, Fury himself has had his say on a showdown with Joshua: “I feel sorry for him at the minute, being cleaned out in the last fight in five rounds, so he’ll have to do that again – or not – and then decide his future. When an adversary loses, and it’s not to you, you do feel down and depressed about it. I felt sad for him. It was sad to see a worthy opponent lose his crown. I’d still fight him whether he’s got five losses, 10 losses or 20. It’s not important because, at this stage of our careers, it’s about having good fights. I think it would still be an entertaining and interesting fight for the paying pundit.”
According to Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, ‘AJ’ is targeting Fury or Dubois as the opponent for his next fight and the Brit has also weighed-in on the potential clash. “I don’t think it’s time to start screaming, this night is Usyk vs Fury, but the reality is there’s only one fight for Tyson Fury and that’s Anthony Joshua,” Hearn told DAZN.
“It’s the biggest fight probably in the history of British boxing, everyone will always want to see it. And by the way, that wasn’t a Tyson Fury that looked finished, it wasn’t a flat performance, it wasn’t a poor performance, he didn’t look gun-shy, he didn’t look like his punch resistance was in question like we talked about earlier. I think Tyson Fury is still potentially at the peak of his powers, just not good enough to be Oleksandr Usyk tonight.
“But for me, AJ against Fury is the one, it’s the one at Wembley, I’m going to be pushing His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] to make the fight, but that’s maybe one for another day, tonight belongs to Oleksandr Usyk. But Fury will struggle with this, I think. All fighters do, AJ struggled with the Dubois defeat as well, you’re a winner and when you get beat it hurts and this will hurt Fury.”
In a hypothetical world, it seems only right that both Fury and Joshua go toe-to-toe next year. While the ‘Gypsy King’ will be licking his wounds following the two defeats in a row to ‘The Cat,’ Tyson himself will be chomping at the bit to beat ‘AJ’ and go down as the greatest Briths heavyweight boxer of the 21st century.
It’s likely the pair would first go head-to-head at Wembley. Eager to get back in the win column, Fury does just that with a win over Joshua in May on home soil. In typical fashion, the pair will be ordered to face-off once again inside the ring, but this time in Saudi Arabia towards the latter part of the year. Once and for all, Fury settles the age-old debate by defeating ‘AJ’ for a second time, going down as the greatest British heavyweight in the 21st century – rounding off a perfect year for Morecambe’s finest.
