Fury’s Backup Plan: Ruiz-Joshua 2 Winner

Tyson Fury is on a mission to reclaim an alphabet world heavyweight boxing title, and he has plans to do that whether or not he and Deontay Wilder do rematch for the WBC heavyweight championship.

Wilder is scheduled to defend the title next week in a rematch with Luis Ortiz. So long as Wilder wins that November 23 fight, he and Fury are set to have their own rematch of their epic December 2018 encounter sometime in Q1 2020.

Of course, that rematch can fall apart if Ortiz ends Wilder’s undefeated record and claims the title. Wilder-Fury 2 would no longer be set in stone, and Wilder would likely pursue a rematch and trilogy bout with Ortiz.

Fury’s plan if that happens? Challenger the winner of the other upcoming heavyweight title rematch — WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz vs. Anthony Joshua.

“When one door closes another one opens. So if he loses, he loses. He’ll have a rematch with Ortiz no doubt. And I’ll look for the winner of Andy Ruiz Jr vs Anthony Joshua on the same date,” Fury told talkSPORT.

If that fight could be made for the near future remains to be seen, but it would come with plenty of obstacles — namely in the form of IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev and WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk. The expectation is that the Ruiz-Joshua 2 winner will be stripped of the title of the sanctioning body whose mandatory he does not face, with said mandatory and another ranked fighter competing for the vacant strap.

Regardless of what happens over the next month’s title fights, however, Fury believes he and the Ruiz-Joshua 2 winner, whomever it may be, will meet down the line.

“It has got to happen. I have three fights left on my contract. Deontay Wilder is next and if Wilder wants it again, he can. Then I will fight the winner of Joshua and Ruiz Jr for sure.”

Original Story: talkSPORT