By William Lloyd: WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury wants Anthony Joshua to decide already whether he’s going to take a step aside payment or go ahead with his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) would like to be the one that takes care of IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) next so that he can collect all four belts.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) said last week that he’s willing to step aside if it makes business sense, which can be construed to be code for, ‘I’m not confident about the Usyk fight.’
Tyson wants Joshua to make a decision already so he can get ramped up to smash Usyk’s face in for him. Ideally, Fury wants to ensure that Joshua doesn’t lose again before facing him in their long-awaited fight.
Fury leaving step aside to his advisers to sort
“40 million, is that dollars or pounds?” said Tyson Fury to iFL TV, reacting to Anthony Joshua wanting 40M to step aside so that Tyson can face Usyk next.
“What I say to that is you have to ask my advisor on what is going on with people’s step aside money and other people’s businesses because I don’t get involved at all,” said Fury. “I am not a businessman. I’m a Spartan, and I’m only interested in knocking mother f***** out.
“So, I don’t get involved in money, money, money, cash, cash, cash. I’m a warrior, not a businessman. I don’t care about money, fame, or fortune. I care about fighting,” said Fury.
“I’ve heard a particular person AJ talking about being a businessman and all that lately. Let’s get it straight, I ain’t a businessman. I’m a fu**** Spartan, mate. Fight until the end.
“No retreat and no surrender, that’s what Spartans say. No business at all. There’s no business in this. When I fight someone, you can’t pay me 200 billion to lose a fight because I want that mother f**** heart.
“Whoever I’m fighting, I want to eat it up for breakfast and then spit it back out again because I don’t do losing it for money or anything for money because I value it.
“It doesn’t mean that much for me because whether I live in a castle or a council flat, I’m still Tyson Fury the Gypsy King,” Fury said.
Tyson wants Joshua to decide already
If Joshua is serious about wanting $40 million for his step aside, then it’s clear that he wants to fight his rematch with Usyk because he’s not going to get that kind of crazy money.
Joshua would be putting his career on the line in the rematch with Usyk, but he can afford to make a foolish move like that because his net worth is $80 million.
He’s not like someone with an empty bank account who can’t afford to make unwise gambles.
“I’m not going to give an opinion on that because he’s going to end up seeing this interview and not stepping aside,” said Fury on Joshua, saying he possibly could make sense for him to step aside if it makes sense for him.
“I want him to step aside so that I can absolutely batter Oleksandr Usyk,” said Fury. “But if he does, he does, and if he doesn’t, he does.
“One thing I will say is get the f*** on with it. Either take your money and f*** off or fight the man [Usyk]. Either way, one or the other,” said a frustrated-sounding Fury.
“Why do I need to focus on opponents? I just won the biggest trilogy in the history of mankind. I’m not interested in thinking about opponents at the minute.
“And I’m not thinking about fighting and all that sort of stuff. I’m thinking about enjoying what I’ve done,” Fury said.
It’s clear that Fury has lost his ambition at this point and wants to enjoy the fruits of his labor. It’ll be interesting to see how long it’ll take before Fury gets bored outside of the ring and will return.
Tyson not thinking of the next opponent yet
It’s still too early for Fury to know who he’ll be fighting next because if Dillian Whyte’s arbitration case ends soon, he may wind up facing him.
Of course, Fury can permanently vacate his WBC title and ask to be elevated to Franchise champion, which in that case, it won’t matter what happens with his WBC belt.
Whyte would either be elevated to the new WBC champion or more likely be ordered to fight the highest-ranked contender for it in the World Boxing Council’s top 10 rankings.
“People are always saying, ‘Who are you fighting next?’ I’ve just come out of the ring,” Fury said. “Give me a break; I’ve just beaten somebody. It was a tough man, and I think one of the toughest men I’m ever going to face in the history of boxing.
“A man that was willing to go out on his shield, a man that was willing to die in the ring that night. A lot of people talk a good fight about going out on their shield and surviving until the end, but they don’t show it. Deontay Wilder did so big credit to that.
“I get lucky sometimes, 31 times in a row,” Fury said in trying to sound modest. I remember when I was fat as f*** at 28 stone, Joshua sent me a message, ‘Get fit, you fat f***’ or something like that. He also said to me, ‘Let’s see who loses first, fat boy.’
“I was like, ‘Game on.’ He sent me a message saying that. ‘We’ll see who loses first,’ and I think he’s lost twice, and I still have that big fat zero, baby. I always said it’s easy to beat someone like me. You’ve got to nail me to the f*** canvas,” Fury said.
Fury to retire after two more fights
There are arguably three well-paying fights left for Fury against Dillian Whyte, Oleksandr Usyk, and Anthony Joshua.
If Fury only takes two of them, you can’t blame him because he’s already set for life, and he’ll make a ton of money in those two fights. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Fury’s net worth is currently $30 million.
Once Fury faces Joshua and Joshua, his net worth will swell to well over $100 million, and he’ll have a nice chunk of change to retire with.
These are the top 10 wealthiest boxers according to Celebrity Net Worth:
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. – $450 million
2. George Foreman – $300 million
3. Manny Pacquiao – $220 million
4. Oscar De La Hoya – $200 million
5. Don King – $150 million
6. Lennox Lewis – $140 million
7. Saul Canelo Alvarez – $140 million
8. Sugar Ray Leonard – $120 million
9. Wladimir Klitschko – $90 million
10. Anthony Joshua – $80 million
11. Vitali Klitschko – $80 million
12. Muhammad Ali – $50 million
13. Amir Khan – $40 million
14. Bernard Hopkins – $40 million
15. Marvin Hagler – $40 million
16. Ricky Hatton – $40 million
17. Naseem Hamed – $33 million
18. Andre Berto – $30 million
19. Anthony Mundine – $30 million
20. Deontay Wilder – $30 million
21. Felix Trinidad – $30 million
22. Gennadiy Golovkin – $30 million
23. Tyson Fury – $30 million
24. Miguel Cotto – $25 million
25. Carl Froch – $20 million
26. David Haye – $20 million
27. Freddie Roach – $20 million
28. Jim Lampley – $20 million
29. Juan Manuel Marquez – $20 million
30. Nigel Benn – $20 million
31. Larry Holmes – $18 million
32. Al Haymon – $15 million
33. Antonio Margarito – $15 million
34. Buster Douglas – $15 million
35. David Diaz – $15 million
36. Sonny Bill Williams – $15 million
37. Andy Ruiz – $10 million
38. Emanuel Steward – $10 million
39. Frank Bruno – $10 million
40. Joe Calzaghe – $10 million
41. Joshua Clottey – $10 million
42. Julio Cesar Chavez Sr – $10 million
43. Laila Ali – $10 million
44. Regilio Tuur – $10 million
45. Sergio Martinez – $10 million
46. Shannon Briggs – $10 million
47. Steve Collins – $10 million
48. Sugar Shane Mosley – $10 million
49. Timothy Bradley – $10 million
50. Floyd Mayweather Sr. – $5 million
“My day is almost over. A 33-year-old and I’ve been through hell and back,” said Fury.
“I don’t have a 40-year career in me. I’ve got maybe another year left, and that’s it. Another couple of fights, and I’m out. I’ve got nothing to prove and nothing to finalize with anybody.
“All I want to do is enjoy what I’ve done, and that’s it. Have a couple of more fights.
“I know my dad will be glad to see me walk away after a couple of more fights.
“I’ve got a couple of fights left in me. Win, lose, or draw, you’re going to see a good fight. That’s guaranteed!” Fury said.
There’s no reason for Fury to continue with his career after two more fights. With the money he’ll make from those two fights, he won’t need to continue unless he’s still looking impressive to the point where it’s worth it to prolong his career.
Fury willing to fight Dillian Whyte
Tyson says he’s willing to fight Dillian Whyte if the WBC orders him to take the fight, but he’d also be willing to be elevated to Franchise champion if that opportunity arose.
“Dillian Whyte has his own problems with the WBC, and it has nothing to do with me,” said Tyson.”I’d fight Dillian Whyte at the drop of a hat. It has nothing to do with, ‘Tyson won’t fight.’
“He’s been mandatory for 200 million days or whatever, but he’s not been my mandatory one time. He’s never been mandatory for my belts ever. When he is, I’ll smash the c*** face right in.
“Listen, when they make him my mandatory challenger, I will defend my belt and butcher him, no problem. If he can beat me, I’ll shake his hand. If not, I’ll move on to the next one.
“Let me clarify on that; he hasn’t been my mandatory for a hundred million days,” said Fury about Whyte. “He hasn’t been my mandatory for zero. He isn’t my mandatory today because I’d be fighting him if he was.
“At the minute, I’d say, ‘no’ because it hasn’t arisen, but if the opportunity arises, I’ll see,” said Fury when asked if he’d be interested in vacating his WBC title and becoming Franchise champion so that he doesn’t have to fight Whyte.
“But I don’t want to avoid anybody; I avoid no man. I’ll fight them all. I’m the WBC heavyweight champion, and all roads lead to me. If you’re not five million percent, then you will not beat me.
“I said a long time ago that I was heading towards the stars, and here I am, reaping the rewards, baby. So here’s a massive message to all my haters out there,” said Fury as he flips the bird at the camera.
