Fury looking at bout in Australia

World heavyweight champion says he will be involved in ‘some big fights’ in 2023 and 2024

MELBOURNE:

Britain's world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury says he is seriously exploring the possibility of a fight in Australia.

The unbeaten Fury is currently in the country to support close friend and former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in his bout against Faiga Opelu on Wednesday.

"I'm looking to do a fight here so I will be going up and down the country looking at different stadiums over the next few days," Fury told Fox Sports television.

"I'm 100 percent serious."

The 34-year-old Fury, who boasts a record of 33 wins from 34 fights with one draw, is visiting Australia for the first time.

Fury hasn't fought since retaining his World Boxing Council title with a decisive stoppage over British rival Derek Chisora in December, with nothing else yet lined up.

There have been on-off talks with Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles.

"I'm looking to fight some big fights this year and next year," Fury said in Melbourne, adding that negotiations with the Ukrainian Usyk are ongoing.

"We have an undisputed fight on the horizon for all the belts against Oleksandr Usyk," he told Fox Sports.

"That has been in talks now for well over a year. There's also other big fights, so we're working on some possibilities at the moment."

One of them could be against China's Zhang Zhilei or fellow Briton Joe Joyce if Usyk fails to materialise.

Zhang upset Joyce with a sixth-round stoppage in London in April, taking his WBO interim title and with it the mandatory position to face the sanctioning body's full champion Usyk.

Joyce has activated his rematch clause and Fury is eyeing a possible clash against the winner.

"We were supposed to talk about fighting Zhang but Joe Joyce has activated his rematch clause so them two will now have a rematch and maybe the winner will get a chance to fight me later on," he said.