WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has stated that he’s not very “optimistic” of a fight with any of the names being floated in the media.
Fury was in talks for an undisputed showdown with WBA, IBF, IBO, WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk, for an April date at Wembley Stadium.
The fight fell apart after both sides were unable to agree on the financial terms for the rematch.
Usyk is now heading to a mandatory defense against Daniel Dubois.
Fury is being lined up for a voluntary world title defense in the month of July – with no opponent currently in place.
There was talk of facing Andy Ruiz or Zhang Zhilei – with Fury not confident of either name being finalized.
“I hear all these names being chucked around but I don’t pay any heed to them until I’m actually in the ring with them,” Fury said, according to The Standard.
“As we’ve seen over the last 14 years, you can be linked to fight somebody and it never happens. I’m not very optimistic about any of the names until I’m actually in with them.
“One thing I can say is, if they’re going to do something [in July] then they better get their finger out. Time is ticking. They better hurry up, we’re in May now.”
Fury’s co-promoter, Frank Warren, is having issues securing a top name for the date.
A fight with Andy Ruiz is unlikely, as Warren explained that the Mexican boxer’s financial demands were very substantial.
And now Zhang is off the table, for the moment, after Joe Joyce activated an immediate rematch clause.
“I want to get him [Fury] out whatever happens and get back in the swing of things. It’s just a bloody shame we wasted so much time [on the Usyk fight],” Warren told Boxing News.
“The problem we’ve got is the ones we wanted are all fighting. The Zhang fight, Joe Joyce, I wouldn’t have gone with Joe next, he’ll have to get a win first and obviously Daniel. We’ll have a look around and see what’s available.”