Tyson Fury says it would be "an absolute dying travesty" if he does not fight Anthony Joshua before he hangs up his gloves for good.

The WBC heavyweight champion has been touted for a match-up with his fellow Briton for a number of years, only to see each attempt to set up a bout fall short.

A fight looked closer than ever earlier this year before another breakdown in negotiations, leaving Fury instead to set up another fight with Derek Chisora next month.

Though Fury has retired, or indicated he would quit, multiple times before, the 34-year-old now says he will not depart from the sport before he fights his rival.

"I don't think I can retire today," he told The High Performance podcast. "Because I need that Joshua fight. We have been trying to make that fight for years.

"It's the fight that people want to see. It's the fight that I want to see as a boxing fan. 

"I think it would be an absolute dying travesty if me and Joshua didn't fight in this era."

Elsewhere, Fury spoke about the fresh wave of talent in the heavyweight division, led by Oleksandr Usyk, that has emerged around him, and how he sometimes wonders whether he still has the fight in him.

"For the last four or five years, there has been this three-headed monster: me, [Deontay] Wilder, Joshua," he added.

"Joshua and Wilder have been slain, and I'm the last one standing.

"All of a sudden, you've got some new people coming up now - Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois, and Usyk's gate-crashed the party.

"Now there's a load of new blood that wasn't there five years ago and it's like, 'Can you beat this person?'."

Fury will fight Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 3.

Floyd Mayweather collected a routine victory in his exhibition boxing match against YouTube star Deji Olatunji on Sunday.

Mayweather, who is considered one of the greatest boxers to ever live, was never threatened, slowly building his pace in the eight-round fight.

He finished the job in the sixth round with an extended flurry, allowing the referee to step in and call it off for a TKO victory.

It is Mayweather's third exhibition since May as he continues to accept fights from non-professional boxers, having last fought professionally against Conor McGregor back in 2017, while his last win against a boxer was in 2015.

Speaking in the ring to DAZN after the result, Mayweather pointed to some swelling under his own eye as an indication that the crowd got their money's worth.

"I'm glad that he landed a good shot, this is part of fighting, this is a part of entertainment," he said. "These people want to see entertainment, and fun, and that's what we both gave them tonight."

He finished with some encouraging words to his opponent, saying "you're a hell of a fighter, a hell of a competitor, keep up the great work, and keep building".

Oleksandr Usyk wants to fight Tyson Fury in his homeland of Ukraine, and has called on the "unpredictable" WBC heavyweight champion to agree to a bout before March 2023.

Usyk last fought in August, when he successfully defended the WBA Super, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight belts by posting a second win over Anthony Joshua in Jeddah.

The 35-year-old immediately targeted a meeting with Fury after that triumph, but the Gypsy King's desire to fight in 2022 means he will face Derek Chisora for a third time in December.

Fury's co-promoter Bob Arum recently revealed talks with Uysk's camp were imminent, and the Ukrainian – who signed up with the Kyiv Territorial Defence following Russia's invasion of the country in February – would love to take the bout to his homeland.

"The organisers are trying to figure out where they can earn more money," Usyk said at an event in Lisbon. "For me, yes, I would really like to fight in Ukraine. 

"The country is really capable of hosting this kind of fight. I would be really happy to see it happen in the Olympic Arena in [Kyiv], Ukraine.

"But it is not me who chooses the venue, so I guess it will be Saudi Arabia."

Usyk then moved to set a timeframe for any fight with Fury, adding he was not considering any other opponents for early 2023.

"Right now, my team is seeking conversations with Tyson Fury, and he is really an unpredictable person, so we can't guarantee when," he added.

"For me, the idea would be to fight maybe in early February or the beginning of March, like March 4, because I am an orthodox Christian.

"During the great fasting before Easter I do not fight, so it should be all before or then after orthodox Easter [April 16].

"I want to fight with Fury because I need the fourth [major] belt, and I don't want to fight with anyone else until I have the fourth belt."

Fury has already defeated Chisora on two occasions – winning by unanimous decision in July 2011 before stopping him after 10 rounds in November 2014, and Usyk is unsure why he needs the trilogy fight.

"I don't know why he needs this fight," he added. "Maybe he thinks because it would be one year without a fight, now he needs it. I think it is some manoeuvre, because I don't know why he needs this."

Anthony Joshua acknowledged he needed to "rest mentally" after being "torn apart" by his loss to Oleksandr Usyk, though he vowed he will eventually face Tyson Fury.

A 'Battle of Britain' clash between Joshua and Fury seemed set for December 3 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, only to for the bout to break down after negotiations collapsed.

The meeting between the two British heavyweights would have followed Joshua's rematch loss to Usyk, who successfully defended his WBA, IBF and WBO belts in August's title match in Saudi Arabia.

While Joshua suggested he will meet in the ring with Fury at some point, the former admitted he needed time off after a draining defeat to the Ukrainian.

"You saw after my last fight, it tore me apart," Joshua said in an interview with DAZN.

"I had so much riding on it, for me, the British fans, the undisputed fight, it just really tore me apart. So from a mental capacity, my close ones are telling me, 'you should rest mentally'.

"Physically, I'm down to fight. I'm a warrior, I like this game, I like competing. But on a mental aspect, I think people have really seen it means a lot.

"I was supposed to be in the ring on December 3. When you're saying, 'when are we going to see you back in the ring?' that was the date but obviously it's not happening. 

"But I've got a good team and I've got to just leave certain things to them because all that other stuff, back and forth and social media, it's quite time-consuming. But you've got to play the game as well.

"And my dance partner, the last geezer I was supposed to fight (Fury), he's a good dance partner, he handles the social media side and I think we do good business behind the scenes to be fair.  

"It will happen, we’re in the same era. Just as two competitors, two fighters. He's definitely someone that's a fighting man."

Joshua is yet to confirm his next opponent after failing to agree a deal with Fury, who settled for another all-British fight with Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 3.

Vasiliy Lomachenko says he is "ready" to face undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney after defeating Jamaine Ortiz on his return from military service in Ukraine.

Three-time lightweight champion Lomachenko returned to defend his homeland in Ukraine after the invasion by Russia, before resuming his career on Saturday with a unanimous decision victory over Ortiz.

The 34-year-old will now eye a clash with Haney, who was in attendance at Madison Square Garden in New York and outlined his hopes for fighting Lomachenko, stating "hopefully we can get it on".

"I will be ready," replied Lomachenko, who reportedly rejected a major title unification with George Kambosos earlier this year, instead opting to return to Ukraine and enlist for the Territorial Defence force.

Lomachenko added on his return against Ortiz: "I'm happy to be back in the ring and make this great show. He is a tough fighter, he is a good fighter."

As for the mouthwatering prospect of a clash between Lomachenko and Haney, the Ukrainian's promoter Bob Arum suggested a potential clash would be a meeting between the two best lightweights.

"The fight to make in the lightweight division is Haney versus Lomachenko," Arum said.

"We will do everything we can to make the undisputed championship showdown that all fight fans want to see. They are the world’s premier lightweights, and it would be a fantastic battle."

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Lomachenko is expected to return to Ukraine to help his home country.

Jake Paul called out Nate Diaz for his next fight after downing his "idol" Anderson Silva on Saturday.

Paul extended to 6-0 with a third victory against MMA competitors, defeating former middleweight champion Silva in a boxing contest on a unanimous decision at Desert Diamond Arena.

Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren are the other two UFC fighters to fall to Paul, who labelled UFC legend Silva as his hero after a memorable performance that saw him knock down the Brazilian in the eighth round.

"I feel like I'm living in a movie," Paul said after the victory. "You couldn't have written this in a story.

"Just being in the ring with him, seeing his heart, his courage, his bravery, that's the champion that I looked up to.

"He's such an inspiration. He was my idol growing up. He inspired me to be great."

Silva defeated former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., after leaving UFC in 2020, and proved a much tougher task for Paul, who indicated already who he wants his next fight to be.

Diaz, in attendance supporting undercard fighter and team-mate Chris Avila, appeared to slap a member of Paul's team after a backstage altercation saw both camps throw drinks.

Now, Paul wants to face Diaz, who became a free agent after UFC 279, as he looks to extend his growing record.

"Nate Diaz, stop being a b**** and fight me," Paul added. "Everyone wants that fight – Nate, stop fighting people for free, let's do it in the ring."

UFC great Anderson Silva has been cleared for his boxing match against Jake Paul after his "bad English" prompted a late meeting to assess his health before Saturday's fight.

Silva had told MMA Weekly he was knocked out twice in his training camp – comments that raised concerns to the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission.

The 47-year-old's team said the Brazilian had misspoken in his second language, while Silva himself told ESPN he was "joking".

"When I'm talking about the knockout, it's just to help the [team-mates] who help me, to [lift] them up," he explained.

In a Twitter post, Silva said discussion of the knockouts were "rumours" that stemmed from "simply bad English".

The commission still had chairman Scott Fletcher attend Thursday's news conference, while Silva also had to take additional medical examinations.

Ara Feinstein, a commissioner who is also a surgeon and a ringside physician, assessed the results and cleared Silva to fight.

"When I look at all of those things together, I don't have any more concerns with Mr Silva fighting [on] Saturday than I would have any other fighter," he said, as quoted by ESPN.

Silva left the UFC in 2020 and has since won two fights to improve his professional boxing record to 3-1 ahead of facing Paul.

Conor Benn has relinquished his British Board of Control (BBBofC) boxing licence after the governing body announced it had upheld allegations of misconduct.

Benn's scheduled bout with Chris Eubank Jr was postponed earlier this month after it emerged the 26-year-old had tested positive for banned substance clomifene.

The BBBofC subsequently prohibited the fight from taking place, despite promoters from both sides attempting to force a U-turn.

Benn's father, former WBO middleweight and WBC super-middleweight champion Nigel Benn, declared they would "get to the bottom of this" following the fight's postponement, with his son later writing on his Instagram account: "I hope the apology is as loud as the disrespect."

A statement from the BBBofC on Wednesday said: "By a notice dated 17th October 2022, Mr Conor Benn was called by the Board of the BBBofC to attend a hearing to deal with allegations of misconduct pursuant to Rule 25.1.1. The hearing took place on 21st October 2022.

"On the morning of the hearing, Mr Benn voluntarily relinquished his licence with the BBBofC.

"In accordance with its rules and regulations, the Board determined the allegations following the hearing at which Mr Benn was legally represented.

"The allegations against Mr Benn were upheld."

Eddie Hearn was not concerned by the failure to secure Anthony Joshua a fight against Tyson Fury, and named Dillian Whyte and Deontay Wilder as potential opponents for Joshua in 2023.

Discussions between Joshua and Fury regarding a December 3 bout collapsed earlier this month, with promoters on both sides publicly blaming each other for the breakdown in a deal.

It was the second time a proposed 'Battle of Britain' fight between the two had fallen through, having previously agreed to face one another in Saudi Arabia last year before Fury was ordered to honour his rematch with Wilder.

While a second collapse of the fight was disappointing for boxing fans, Hearn conceded he always felt it was not the right move to make.

"I don't sit here today, as someone who represents Anthony Joshua, devastated that fight didn't happen," he told Talksport.

"He wanted to take it, so I was all in, but it was a very quick turnaround for him in a fight of that magnitude."

While Fury will return to the ring in December, facing Derek Chisora in a trilogy bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Joshua is unlikely to fight until the first quarter of 2023, with Hearn naming Whyte and Wilder as potential opponents next year.

"I think he's going to fight [in] January or February, early next year. I think the fight you'll see is Dillian Whyte against Anthony Joshua," he added.

"Wilder is [also] definitely a fight for 2023. He's got to fight Andy Ruiz Jr in a final eliminator for the WBC, which is a tremendous fight.

"I think AJ vs Wilder might just be the biggest fight in boxing, you only need the edge of your seat to watch that fight. It's super dangerous and someone's going to sleep, but it's two fast, explosive, huge punching, heavyweight machines.

"I think you'll see either Wilder or Fury against AJ next year, but I think you'll definitely see the Dillian Whyte fight if he can get through Jermaine Franklin."

Whyte is due to face Franklin in London on November 23.

Tyson Fury's co-promoter Bob Arum has revealed talks over a heavyweight unification fight with Oleksandr Usyk will begin next week.

Usyk claimed the WBA Super, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight belts by beating Anthony Joshua in London last year, before retaining them in August's rematch in Saudi Arabia.

The Ukrainian's second win over Joshua led to speculation he would face WBC heavyweight champion Fury in a unification bout, but he quickly ruled making out a return to the ring in 2022.

Fury will face Derek Chisora for a third time in December, but all the signs point to him meeting Usyk next year.

Arum – who promotes Fury alongside Frank Warren – told Sky Sports he would meet with Usyk and his manager Egis Klimas to discuss the bout in the coming days.

"I'll be having dinner with them without any question, probably on the Thursday night [October 27]," Arum said.

"I'll have a very long discussion with them about what their plans are and when it could be in their best interests to get the fight on.

"I know from previous conversations with both of them that they want that fight against Tyson Fury."

Fury has won 32 of his 33 professional fights, with a draw against Deontay Wilder in 2018 the only blot on his record, but Arum feels Usyk would provide the Gypsy King with a serious test.

"If there's anybody around who really has a good, good chance with Tyson Fury, it's Oleksandr Usyk," Arum added.

Meanwhile, Arum also believes Fury's meeting with Chisora will serve as perfect preparation for facing Usyk, who was taken the distance by the 38-year-old in October 2020.

"Chisora wasn't selected by Frank Warren and myself for Tyson just out of the blue," Arum said. 

"Yes, Chisora lost twice early on to Tyson, but remember his fight with Usyk where he gave Usyk life and death. A lot thought that he might have eked out a victory.

"If you're getting ready to fight Usyk, fight a guy who went in with him and carried him into deep waters.

"Chisora is not just a walkover. Chisora has demonstrated tremendous punching power and if you lose concentration and he hits you in the right place on the chin, it's dangerous."

Although Tyson Fury's proposed bout with Anthony Joshua appears to be dead in the water, the latter remains in the WBC heavyweight champion's head.

That is according to Fury's next opponent, Derek Chisora.

The Gypsy King will defend his title against Chisora on December 3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in what will be the third fight between the pair.

Fury beat Chisora when they first met in 2011, before also defeating him almost eight years ago.

A deal recently seemed to have been reached for Fury to face Joshua, with both parties appearing optimistic about contracts being signed.

However, after missing a deadline imposed by Fury, the champion's camp called negotiations off and instead turned attention to a bout against Chisora.

Despite being the new contender, Chisora has claimed Fury is unable to take his focus off Joshua, and defended AJ's decision not to sign the deal.

"AJ is living in Tyson's head rent-free," Chisora said. "Tyson wakes up every day thinking about AJ and cannot do an interview without mentioning AJ.

"AJ is off living his life, doing his own thing. I don't know why Tyson keeps talking about AJ.

"AJ could not take the fight because there were so many complications with sponsors and promoters.

"The fighters always want to fight, just fight, but the complications come from the business people around them who get in the way."

Tyson Fury is considering becoming the new owner of Morecambe to throw "millions" at the League One club.

The WBC world heavyweight champion already has his ‘Gypsy King’ brand embroidered on the Shrimps' shorts.

After it was announced Fury will face Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a trilogy fight on December 3, the unbeaten 34-year-old revealed he is mulling over a takeover of the club in the seaside town where he lives.

He told talkSPORT on Thursday: "Quick question, I'm thinking about buying Morecambe Football Club, they're in League One at the moment.

"So I was thinking I invest X amount of millions in them."

Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan replied: "By invest you mean throw it at them, invest is the wrong term."

Fury said: "Yeah, basically throw it at them and keep them going up. I've been offered to buy Morecambe Football Club.

"I own all the training facilities anyway and the training gym. So who knows? You might be looking at a football club owner."

Jordan asked Fury: "You know how to make a small fortune in football?”

The world champion responded: "Start off with a bigger one! It's the same as being a boxing promoter."

Tyson Fury praised Derek Chisora for accepting a December 3 fight, aiming a not-so-subtle dig towards Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua.

The two heavyweights will go toe-to-toe at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Fury's WBC belt on the line, after the Gypsy King was unable to secure an agreement to fight either Usyk or Joshua.

That led to disappointment among fans, with the initial reception for a trilogy bout against Chisora not a positive one, but Fury always intended to fight before the end of the year and says his opponent has "balls" which others in the division lack.

"You've got the so-called guys in the division, the 'top guys', we offer them fights but there's no smoke. You offer it to Chisora, boom, he's sat here opposite me," Fury said in Thursday's press conference.

"The man has got balls. In today's society, in this boxing game, there's a lack of balls. You know who you are, these people who don't want smoke.

"With Chisora, he does what it says on the tin, he goes to war. We're going to get a war. I did outbox him comfortably the second time, but his style has changed and so has mine.

"When you've got two heavy forces colliding with two heavy bombs, someone is getting knocked out. If he lands a big punch on me, I'm getting knocked out. If I land a big swing on him, he's getting knocked out.

"The fans are going to win, 100 per cent. I promised Chisora for years that we would have a third fight. We're going to put on a hell of a fight."

Promoter Frank Warren has outlined Fury's future in the ring beyond the trilogy bout against Chisora, with a proposed unification bout against Usyk still planned for the first quarter of next year.

"If Tyson comes through December 3, he's going to fight Oleksandr Usyk and after that he may wind up fighting Joe Joyce," Warren told TalkSport.

Tyson Fury will fight Derek Chisora for a third time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after a proposed bout with Anthony Joshua fell through.

Talks over a fight between Fury and Joshua fell through, but there will be another all-British heavyweight battle in London.

WBC champion Fury will defend his title against Chisora, who he beat when they first met in 2011 and got the better of again almost eight years ago.

Fury intends to fight Oleksandr Usyk in a bid to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion in the first part of 2023, but next up will be Chisora.

The unbeaten 'Gypsy King' earned a unanimous decision when he fought Chisora for the first time and had his arms raised again after his fellow Englishman was retired by his corner at the end of the 10th round in their rematch at Wembley.

Fury, 34, insisted he had retired after stopping Dillian Whyte in April, but it was no surprise when he made a U-turn to resume his career.

Unbeaten in 33 fights, the 34-year-old will be a strong favourite to beat Chisora for a third time.

The 38-year-old Chisora stopped Kubrat Pulev in his last bout at the O2 Arena in London, taking his record to 33 victories and 12 defeats.

WBA world champion Daniel Dubois will make a first defence of his belt against South African southpaw Kevin Lerena on the undercard.

Frank Warren, Fury's promoter, said: "I am thrilled to be delivering a Tyson Fury world title defence in front of the British fans in London. Tyson clearly conquered America across his trilogy with Deontay Wilder and there is also huge demand to stage his fights from sites across the world.

"Tyson wanted to fight in his home country again this year following his special night at Wembley Stadium in April. This brings us to the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and a match against an old rival in Derek Chisora.

"Derek, also a big favourite with British fans, has reinvented himself in recent years and Tyson has long stated his wish to fight him for a third time.

"Tyson can't afford any slip-up in this fight as he has the much-publicised undisputed match-up with Usyk in the new year which we're really looking forward to."

Deontay Wilder ended his return to the ring inside the first round with a swift knockout of Robert Helenius in Brooklyn and then claimed he had brought back "excitement in the heavyweight division".

The former WBC champion had not fought since back-to-back defeats to Tyson Fury, the second coming last October.

But after just over a year away, Wilder made light work of underdog opponent Helenius, who was knocked down by a trademark big right hand with seconds left in the opening round.

Wilder had outlined this week his desire to land "the number one fight in the world" against Anthony Joshua, but he was open-minded about his next task following the defeat of Helenius.

"I'm down for whatever," Wilder said. "Andy Ruiz, [Oleksandr] Usyk or whatever. Deontay Wilder is back. The excitement in the heavyweight division is back."

Wilder enjoyed himself on his return at Barclays Center, adding: "We wanted to make this fun again.

"You can do this so long it can be a job, just something you are doing. We made it fun. It paid off big time."

The defeat of Helenius, his former sparring partner, saw Wilder improve to 43-2-1 with 42 knockouts.