Former WBC cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs) would love to get the opportunity to retire Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) in 2018.
In the last few weeks, the boxer have traded verbal shots in the press and on social media.
Bellew was scheduled to fight next month at the O2 Arena in London in a rematch with David Haye, who withdrew with a bicep injury. The Haye rematch is being rescheduled for next March or May.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, who handles Bellew, has spoken to both fighters about agreeing a deal and there is interest on both sides.
Fury, a former WBO, WBA, IBF, IBO heavyweight champion, has been out of the ring since shocking Wladimir Klitschko for the belts in November 2015. Fury dropped the titles last year to focus on the state of his mental health.
He is currently training for a planned return in 2018 and aims to reclaim his license to box in the next few weeks. He has a hearing scheduled with UK-Anti Doping, who claim the boxer tested positive for a banned substance in early 2015.
Fury says his goal is to return to the ring to clean out the entire division.
But Bellew says the only thing left for Fury's career is to lose to him.
“The only thing left for him [Fury] to do in his career is lose to me. I’m happy to do it," Bellew told Talk Sport.
“Everyone is saying I’m scared of fighting big heavyweights and I’m sick of hearing it. It’s annoyed me that much that I thought, ‘you know what, let’s just fight the biggest one then’.”
And Bellew has not forgotten about Haye.
He wants to prove that his March TKO of Haye was no fluke, and believes he will batter the London heavyweight all over the ring.
“David Haye is telling everyone he can be ready [next year], and I still believe that’s a fight a lot of the British public want to see. I’m happy to punch him all over the place again. You don’t fluke anything in boxing. You prepare to fight and what will be, will be," Bellew said.
