Tyson Fury has been offered the chance to compete for a world title instead of a monumental showcase with Anthony Joshua.
The 'Gypsy King' is due to return to action on Friday night against heavyweight veteran Mariusz Wach behind closed doors in Thailand. The 46-year-old Wach was last seen in March when he suffered a points defeat to Viktor Vykhryst.
Fury is expected to make easy work of the Polish scrapper before facing Joshua in November, with an official date or venue yet to be confirmed. Joshua also fights this week when he faces Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia a day after Fury's outing in Thailand.
WBC president offers alternative fight
But WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has thrown a spanner in the works by offering to book a fight between Fury and champion Agit Kabayel before the end of the year, which would serve as a major blow to Joshua. When asked if Fury would fight for the WBC title again, Sulaiman told Betway: "He's my friend. He's my dear friend. He was our champion for several years, a very proud WBC man, family man.
"We share values, we share special moments, and we speak often. So I'm very happy to hear that he's looking great. That video he sent ahead of England vs Mexico, he looked happy. He's just a unique individual. Kabayel vs Fury, that's a very doable fight, of course."
Sulaiman added: "Tyson Fury has been one of the greatest ambassadors, one of the proudest champions. I have a great respect for him and his family and his team. We had a great run for many years as our champion. Way, way back in 2011 or 2012, he was promoted by Mick Hennessy, and he had some sort of outburst, and my father had an exchange with him, and he apologised. Our relationship with Tyson Fury has lasted so long."
Fury dismisses current champions
Fury may not be interested after tearing into the state of the heavyweight division, including Kabayel. "All those men have been gifted world titles. They never actually fought anyone to get one," he said on Wednesday. "Fabio Wardley - gifted a world title. Daniel Dubois - gifted a world title. Agit Kabayel - gifted a world title. Murat Gassiev - gifted a world title. How could you compare them men to me? Who's fought legends of the game and beat them for world titles."
"They're in their own little group, and I am ****ing on top of the Empire State Building. They have got f*** all I want. They do not have any money. I have already had all the belts. They have got nothing that I want. And their names... they are not even high record names. Like, who knows who these people are? I know they are only just starting out their careers, most of them are a few years younger than me, but they are starting out with a no name and they have got to build their way up, and it's going to take years to get there."
"This Gassiev guy who has just won a world title, who knows that guy outside of Russia? Nobody. Agit Kabayel. Frank Warren said 'you can't fight him!' Back in 2020. 'You can't fight Agit, he's a no name. You'd get booed out the stadium.' He was only 24-0, number one rated in the IBF at the time. All these guys, they are all doing their thing. They are all going to fight it out between themselves. Even after being retired for ten years, I can still come back and get a world title shot at any time, because I have paid the price. I have spent hours and years in this game to be able to do that. I will always be a big name."
