Tyson Fury will most likely be returning to the ring in 2026 but it is still a mystery against who. Apparently having reached some oral agreement with The Ring owner Turki Alalshikh, statements made by both suggest a trilogy fight with Oleksandr Usyk is on the cards, yet Usyk and his team appear to have not yet been reached out for a potential fight.
Despite Tyson Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO’s) being widely reported for a 2026 return from his retirement, potential future opponent Oleksandr Usyk (2-0, 14 KO’s) seems to not yet have had proper discussions surrounding a fight with Fury.
That will likely not come as surprise given Usyk is set to face Daniel Dubois in an undisputed heavyweight (200+ lbs) fight in a couple weeks and is currently in the middle of training camp, but the optics of a possible Fury return speaks volumes as to the chaotic nature of the trilogy fight.
According to Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, no discussions have been held to even suggest a Usyk-Fury III bout is on the periphery.
“Do I [have] messages?” Klimas cryptically posted on social media after Fury’s 2026 comeback was announced.
A post later, Egis Klimas made it clear that there was no correspondence with him about a fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.
“You people have my number,” Klimas asserted in another post where Usyk was hinted to become Fury’s opponent for his return to the ring.
Depending on whether Usyk actually comes out on top against Dubois (22-2, 21 KO’s), a loss against the British champion would result in the trilogy bout losing a lot of its luster as there would be no titles made available. With Fury further having suffered two losses against the Ukrainian champion, a third fight appears unnecessary in the face of what would undoubtedly be a more exciting match-up: Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KO’s).
The two British fighters share a history, similar achievements and both have lost their “0’s” to Usyk in fights where they ultimately lost twice to the Ukrainian.
Outside of the already significant features of a much-anticipated domestic match-up, the name recognition of both fighters puts them well into a stratosphere that would make a potential bout between them one of the biggest in heavyweight boxing ― to the point it could arguably be construed as the best heavyweight fight of this modern era, trumping even the undisputed bout between Usyk and Fury in 2024.
There is a slight chance this fight could transpire given Fury’s most recent statements signified he did have interest in fighting Joshua next year ― in a scenario where he couldn’t get the Usyk fight:
“Who would I rather fight? Right now? Usyk,” Fury stated in an interview with SecondsOut.
“Because I want [my] revenge in England. That’s all I want. I want a fair shout, and I don’t believe I got a fair shout the last two times. So I don’t know what I’m going to have to do, because I can’t leave it go to the decision. I have to knock the c*** out.
“If I don’t get that, then it be Joshua, the biggest British fight that will ever happen. And it would break all records, and it would sell out 100.000 at Wembley in an hour. And I think that’s a fight that can happen, for sure, if I decide to come back, and the deal’s right ― and all the other s*** that goes with it.“
Another potential scenario could see Fury face Daniel Dubois if he were to win against Usyk, thereby putting Tyson Fury in the prime position to potentially become undisputed. As both fighters are signed to Queensberry Promotions, an in-house fight between the two heavyweight would be up to mainly Queensberry head Frank Warren who has already expressed a willingness to allow the two to fight.
