Tyson Fury will '100 per cent' return to ring but only face Joshua or Usyk for right price

Undefeated WBC heavyweight champion said he had retired following victory against Dillian Whyte in April

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Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury says he will "100 per cent" return to the ring, but that “big pockets” would be required to lure him into a potential unification bout against Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk.

Fury, 33, said in April that he was calling time on his undefeated professional career after defending his WBC world title in front of a record-breaking attendance at Wembley Stadium, when he knocked out Dillian Whyte in the sixth round.

However, in an interview with Queensberry Promotions late on Tuesday, Fury said: "We've got some very exciting news coming. I think the world's been waiting for our plan of action.”

Asked if he would return to boxing, Fury replied: "One hundred per cent, like [movie character] Jerry Maguire said, 'Show me the money!'

"If anybody can show me the money... I put a moniker on [promoter] Frank Warren years ago, I called him the 'Magic Man'. Because if he can bring somebody back from absolutely dead, like he did with me, he must have magic.

"We're going to make something big, big happen."

Warren, Fury’s UK promoter, said on the same video call: "We've looked at a couple of scenarios. I spoke to Tyson again today, and we're hopefully going to come up with something that Tyson wants to do. We've talked about various scenarios.

"Maybe an exhibition bout, we don't know. Something will come out of it. Once Tyson is happy, then I'll be happy, and whatever is going to be will be.

"There's obviously a lot of things to talk about, and the public will want to see Tyson Fury back in the ring, where he's the king. I want to see that.

"I get where Tyson is and what he's said: people retire and come back in a couple of years. I like fellas to fight when they're in their prime, and for me Tyson Fury isn't at his prime [yet].

"That performance last time out was something else, but we're going to have a good chat and I'm sure we're going to have some good news we can announce fairly soon."

Fury, who has yet to vacate his WBC belt, has been touted for a crossover exhibition clash with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Yet it is the prospect of a unification fight against Usyk or Joshua that occupies the mind of most boxing fans. Usyk is expected to defend the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts he claimed from Joshua last September in the rematch later this summer. Saudi Arabia in August has been mooted.

On Tuesday, Fury said: "There's something to be really excited about, but it doesn't involve Usyk or Joshua at this moment. I will make a decision on all this. I've only just fought, not even three months ago. I wouldn't be expected to fight until October, November, December anyway.

"I've got no mandatories coming up. No one is rushing me to do anything.

"When this middleweight [Usyk] knocks out this bodybuilder [Joshua] again, there's only going to be one man to sort this absolute circus out, isn't there?

"What I would say to the people who want this fight to happen: 'You better have a big cheque book, because to bring the big [Gypsy King] out of retirement, to redeem this country yet again, it's going to cost'.

"I am a prize fighter and I do fight for prizes, but it's going to cost if you want me to do a mission on this middleweight and show you what a real heavyweight does to him.

"That's going to be expensive, you're going to have to have big pockets, and we can even talk then. Until [they fight], I'm going to stay in Morecambe, training like a lunatic."

Updated: June 15, 2022, 6:12 AM