Current WBC heavyweight king Tyson Fury has cast aside his plans for a return on December 5, as he now looks ahead to scheduling a fight in 2021.Fury confirmed his plans on Sunday via Twitter by posting: “The Gypsy King is returning in 2021. Only those that have supported me 100% since my comeback will be with me for the glory."After the proposed fight with unbeaten German Agit Kabayel failed to materialise, Deontay Wilder broke his social media silence, demanding last week that Fury “honoured his agreement” for a trilogy fight.Expectedly, these demands were rebuffed by the 32-year-old Brit. Fury remains defiant in his stance that Wilder will “never get a shot” after the Alabama-native accused him of putting “something hard” in his gloves after a TKO defeat in their February clash.A dominant Fury secured the WBC strap in Las Vegas a little over a year after their thrilling and ever controversial first fight that ended in a draw.A trilogy fight was originally planned for this summer, but multiple delays and claims from the Fury camp of an expired rematch clause led them to pursue other options.A hotly anticipated undisputed bout between Fury and his fellow Brit Anthony Joshua now looks most likely to occur in late 2021 or early 2022.
Despite Fury stepping away from a return before the end of the year, the picture of the heavyweight division will begin to look a little more clear.
With Joshua squaring off against the dangerous Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev, fulfilling his IBF duties in a mandatory clash, it may move things a step closer to an undisputed showdown.
There is also a potential fight with WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk on the horizon, who is looking to take on AJ following a clinical victory against Derek Chisora.
The mandatories and Wilder may prove to be stumbling blocks as of today, but the aim for both Fury and AJ is to face off and try to become undisputed.