Fury vs Joshua or Fury vs Wilder III? Odds Shifting on Fury’s Next Opponent

• Tyson Fury’s next opponent is a subject that has been gripping the boxing world in the last 48 hours
• Recently vanquished Deontay Wilder is the odds-on favorite in the Gypsy King sweepstakes
• Check out the odds for all the options, plus my analysis and prediction, below

A decisive victory over Deontay Wilder on Saturday has led to a lot of speculation on Tyson Fury’s next opponent.  Dozens of options have been put out there including former adversaries, a title unification bout, and even a fight with someone from a different sport. It’s certainly a good time to be Tyson Fury.

The table below contains all the betting options as of Monday, Feb. 24th.

Odds on Tyson Fury’s Next Opponent

Odds taken Feb. 24.

Who Can Be Crossed Off?

Though a fight with Stipe Miocic is fun to daydream about, I don’t see the UFC heavyweight champ being Fury’s next opponent, though Fury has indicated an interest to compete in some sort of mixed-rules bout in the UFC.

Dereck Chisora has had a couple of fairly definitive losses to Fury so it’s fair to eliminate him, as well.

Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce are fighting one another in April. Not only do the competitive timelines not align well but neither Dubois nor Joyce are quite on that blockbuster-star level.

Charles Martin and Dillian Whyte are in positions where they’re mandatory challengers but the title fight isn’t coming any time soon. It’s been years for Whyte in this position and I feel like Martin will be in the same spot despite a dominant stoppage victory in the Wilder vs Fury II co-main event.

Andy Ruiz Jr is slated to fight Luis Ortiz in September which eliminates him from the running.

Kownacki and Usyk are top-level heavyweights but they don’t carry as much weight in the divisional hierarchy. Though they’ve been impressive, they would need a least a couple more wins.

It’s worth noting that Joseph Parker shares the same representation as Anthony Joshua (Eddie Hearn). This translates to Parker likely not getting the next shot at Fury but more than likely in a co-main event caliber/title eliminator bout on a possible Fury card. Also, Fury has said Parker is like a brother to him. So there’s that.

The Gypsy King Sweepstakes

There were a lot of rumblings surrounding the idea of Anthony Joshua finally fighting Tyson Fury. Fury’s post-fight press comments diverted attention from that idea, though. Recent breaking news has thrown a lot of cold water on that notion as well.

Full story coming to @TheAthleticBOX shortly: Deontay Wilder @BronzeBomber tells me he is definitely exercising his rematch clause for a summer trilogy against @Tyson_Fury, that his legs were weakened by his 45-pound costume he wore to the ring to honor Black History Month.

— Lance Pugmire (@pugboxing) February 24, 2020

Wilder contends that the referee wasn’t diligent in reprimanding Fury for supposed shots to the back of the head. The Bronze Bomber also got rid of the cornerman who threw in the towel for the fight. Though unseated from his throne, Wilder was, just a few days ago, the longest-reigning champion in the sport.

I  think Fury is a savvy prizefighter and realizes he needs to strike while the iron is hot. The Joshua fight is still going to be there and AJ will likely fight mandatory contender Kubrat Pulev in the meantime. Fury probably realizes he can squeeze one more big payday out of this Wilder series. That trilogy bout could disappear if Wilder took another fight and lost. I ultimately think that Wilder vs Fury 3 will be the next time we see the Gypsy King step into the ring.

Pick: Deontay Wilder (-110)