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Nick ParkinsonOct 16, 2025, 12:47 PM<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Reports on boxing for ESPN.com and has been covering British boxing for over 25 years.<\/p>\n We have been here a few times before with Tyson Fury<\/a>, but it looks like the entertaining former heavyweight champion is set to end his retirement<\/a> — again — and could be back in the ring in 2026.<\/p>\n “He’s indicated that he wants to fight next year,” promoter Frank Warren said on his Queensberry Promotions YouTube channel on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) has not boxed since a second decision loss<\/a> to undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> in December, after which he announced (not for the first time) he was hanging up his gloves.<\/p>\n If Fury, 37, does embark on another comeback, who will be his next opponent? Will he go straight into a challenging fight? Will he finally face Anthony Joshua<\/a> or will he want to ease himself back with an easier assignment?<\/p>\n ESPN looks at five contenders for the return of the “Gypsy King.”<\/p>\n The one that should happen: Anthony Joshua It might not be as big as it once would have been when they shared all the heavyweight world titles between them, but there is still a big demand to see Fury vs. Joshua, especially in the U.K.<\/p>\n The English rivals first had serious talks to face each other<\/a> five years ago, but successive attempts to make the fight have failed to deliver one of the biggest fights available in boxing.<\/p>\n Since both are now closer to 40 and nearing the end of their careers, there is a realization that time is running out to make a fortune from sharing a ring together whether a title is on the line or not.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n “[Fury’s] was one of the most astonishing retirements I’ve ever seen. We never knew that was going to happen, did we?” Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, who has guided Joshua’s career since his professional debut in 2013, recently told ESPN.<\/p>\n “I know that if the deal is right he will fight Anthony Joshua. He last fought in December so he’s been out of the ring for a year soon. I know that Fury’s team are all talking to Turki Alalshikh [chairman of the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority], and I saw an interview with Frank Warren saying he had talked to Tyson Fury and he’s coming back.”<\/p>\n Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), a two-time heavyweight world champion, has not fought since getting knocked out in Round 5 by Daniel Dubois in September 2024. An elbow surgery<\/a> has delayed Joshua, 36, from resuming his career, but he is expected to box again late this year or early 2026. Hearn told ESPN Joshua will have an interim fight before a potential fight with Fury<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The obvious one is Joshua because everybody wanted to see that fight and [still] wants to see that fight. That’s an obvious one,” Warren said. “To be blunt, it’s all about the money.”<\/p>\n Recently, Warren and Hearn have separately held talks about making Joshua vs. Fury with Alalshikh, currently the most powerful figure in global boxing.<\/p>\n “I think Turki Alalshikh is probably the only one who can make the Tyson Fury fight because both guys are going to want a huge amount of money and Turki has a reputation for making the biggest fights in the sport,” Hearn said.<\/p>\n “And the biggest fight in the sport is Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury, no question about it.”<\/p>\n The question is whether Fury feels he is ready to go straight into a fight with Joshua next or have an interim fight, which could potentially delay Fury vs. Joshua until the second half of 2026.<\/p>\n The one that can happen: Martin Bakole or Fabio Wardley After over a year out of the ring, Fury may decide he wants a warmup fight. An opponent that brings less threat, but is still a big enough name to be a credible opponent, is Bakole.<\/p>\n Bakole, 33, is looking for a big fight and has previously sparred Fury. Bakole (21-2-1, 16 KOs) was clinically dealt with inside two rounds by Joseph Parker<\/a> in February, although he did step in as a late-notice substitute opponent<\/a>. Bakole then fought to a draw with Efe Ajagba in May, and has recently been linked to fighting Joshua in Nigeria.<\/p>\n If Bakole ends up fighting Joshua, Fury could easily be matched against Fabio Wardley. Both are promoted by Queensberry Promotions, and Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) is outside the elite group whose inexperience could be capitalized on by Fury’s smart boxing.<\/p>\n But Wardley is dangerous, as he showed when he knocked out the previously unbeaten Justis Huni<\/a> in June when he was losing the fight. Wardley is scheduled to face Parker on Oct. 25.<\/p>\n The one we don’t want to see: Oleksandr Usyk Fury feels a deep sense of injustice over the outcome of his rematch with Usyk — a feeling not widely shared by the media.<\/p>\n Usyk, 38, is 2-0 over Fury and continued his imperious form in a masterful Round 5 KO win over Dubois<\/a> in July. It is hard to argue a case for Fury upsetting the odds in a third encounter against the undisputed heavyweight champion, but along with Joshua, this could be the fight Fury wants.<\/p>\n Usyk has said his retirement day is close<\/a>, and he could be tempted by a big money trilogy encounter before he walks away from boxing. But Fury can earn more against Joshua and has a better chance of beating him, which is why that Usyk trilogy fight is unlikely to be next.<\/p>\n The most dangerous: Moses Itauma Fury is fully aware of how dangerous Itauma is, after the 20-year-old notched his eighth first-round victim in his most recent fight<\/a>.<\/p>\nAnthony Joshua, left, is coming off a fifth-round KO loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024 at London’s Wembley Stadium.\u00a0Mark Robinson\/Matchroom Boxing<\/p>\n
Heavyweight contender Martin Bakole defeated Jared Anderson by fifth-round KO in August 2024.\u00a0Photo by Mark Robinson\/Matchroom Boxing\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Oleksandr Usyk, right, defeated Tyson Fury twice in 2024, the first time by split decision before earning a unanimous decision in the rematch.\u00a0Mark Robinson\/Matchroom Boxing<\/p>\n
Moses Itauma, right, stopped Dillian Whyte in Round 1 of their heavyweight fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in August.\u00a0Photo by Richard Pelham\/Getty Images<\/p>\n