During video spree, Fury says he's back for 3rd Chisora fight and Lowe is new trainer
Arum, however, says plan is to await Usyk-Joshua II result and try to make match with winner for undisputed title
A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: If you have upgraded to a paid subscription, thank you! If you have not, please consider doing so to receive the most content. A paid subscription is also your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism.
After Tyson Fury knocked out Dillian Whyte in April to retain the heavyweight championship in a massive event that drew 94,000 to Wembley Stadium in London, he said he was retired. He said he might do exhibitions or once again dabble in WWE.
Nobody took Fury’s retirement seriously and then, weeks later, to no surprise, he announced in a joint video with co-promoter Frank Warren that he would return to boxing. He didn’t need the money, he said, but he’d only come back if somebody paid him “half a billy” (dollars).
Then he made a recent video saying he would fight British countryman Anthony Joshua but that it had to be for free and take place in their home country of England. All tickets for free, fight on free television and nobody could make any money on it.
And, now, once again, Fury has taken to his social media platforms with a series of videos making two more announcements on Tuesday: That he is returning to the ring to face former contender Dereck Chisora in a trilogy fight and that he has replaced trainer SugarHill Steward with close friend and professional featherweight Isaac Lowe, who has no training experience.
“Massive announcement to make to the world,” Fury said in one video, standing with Lowe. “Isaac Lowe will be my next trainer for my next fight against Dereck Chisora. You’re gonna see the best version of me. It’s been awhile but we’re back!”
Later there was another video of Fury with Lowe in which he explained why he was ending the retirement nobody believed in the first place.
“I’ve decided to come back to boxing because I can be the first heavyweight champion in history to have two trilogies, one with Deontay Wilder and a second one with Dereck Chisora,” Fury said, despite being incorrect about the number of heavyweight trilogies that have taken place. “I always said I would fight Dereck Chisora again in my career and here we are breaking all records, setting precedence.”
Then Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs), 33, explained his decision to have Lowe train him despite going 3-0 (all by knockout) with Steward, who trained Fury for his second and third fights with Wilder and the Whyte fight.
“Why I’ve chosen Isaac Lowe as my trainer is because when I was with Peter (Fury, his uncle), Isaac was there,” Fury said. “When I was with Ben (Davison), Isaac’s always been there. And when I was with SugarHill, Isacc’s always been there. He’s always giving me information. He knows me better than anyone on the planet and we’re a great team. We’ve always been together and we’re gonna finish this out together. We’ve always worked very well together and here we are about to take on a massive, massive, massive event.”
Encouraged to talk to the camera, Lowe, a staple on Fury’s undercards, added, “I’m looking forward to it. New challenge for me. I’ve been with you all your career, so looking forward to it. It’s a tough task but something to look forward to.”
“The truth is that he gets up in the morning and he figures how he can best stir up shit,” — Bob Arum on Tyson Fury
Fury also made another video directed toward Chisora.
“This one goes out to Dereck ‘The Shithouse’ Chisora.’ You're running, Dereck, from the trilogy,” Fury said. “You call yourself ‘War’ but you should call yourself chicken because you’re running from a trilogy (and) a career-highest payday. Get a fucking contract signed. Stop being a shithouse.”
A third Fury-Chisora fight, unlikely as it is, would be targeted for December. Fury already has two decisive wins over Chisora, a lopsided decision (118-111, 117-112, 117-112) in a 2011 fight for the British and Commonwealth titles and a 10th-round knockout in a 2014 fight for the European and British titles.
Long a division gate-keeper, Chisora (33-12, 23 KOs), 38, won a hard-fought decision over fellow former title challenger Kubrat Pulev on July 9 to end a three-fight losing streak.
Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Fury’s co-promoter, downplayed Fury’s spurt of announcements and said not take it seriously because nothing would be done as it relates to Fury’s next fight until after the rematch between three-belt titleholder Oleksandr Usyk and Joshua, who meet on Aug. 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The biggest fight in boxing would be Fury against the winner for the undisputed championship, especially if it was Joshua.
“He’s having fun,” Arum told Fight Freaks Unite about Fury. “He gets up in the morning. He figures what kind of shit to stir up and he says whatever he thinks. And because he gets so many hits on all these (social media) platforms he has a built in audience. If he got up tomorrow and said he’s coming back to fight X and that the only person that he’ll trust to train him is Bob Arum, he’s capable of saying that.”
Arum said there is nothing seriously being done to facilitate a Chisora fight despite Fury’s comments.
“Of course not,” Arum said. “Nothing. What are we, crazy? Everybody is waiting for the fight to happen a week from Saturday and then we’ll explore whether it’s feasible to do a fight for the complete unification. He’s having fun, for Christ sake! Don’t take it seriously!
“The truth is that he gets up in the morning and he figures how he can best stir up shit and that’s what he does. You think Isaac takes it seriously? Of course not, for Christ sake! (Fury) is just having fun. It’s his idea of fun.
“He’s getting a little antsy as we all are because we’re waiting (for Aug. 20). If Usyk wins then there’s one path to take because then everybody is close and friendly and if Joshua wins then we’ve got to deal with (Joshua promoter) Eddie (Hearn) and all that stuff.”
Arum did say that if the Usyk-Joshua II winner suffered an injury that might keep him out of the ring for an extended period, thus preventing a Fury fight in the near future, they might proceed with a Chisora fight.
“(If the Aug. 20) winner needs a lot more time off because of an injury and so forth then there is a possibility we’d move ahead with a Chisora fight,” Arum said. “We’re all waiting for the fight in Saudi Arabia to take place and, hopefully, Usyk wins and then our path is clear. Of course, if Joshua wins, in the U.K., it’s a much bigger fight.”
Fury photo: Queensberry Promotions
To upgrade your subscription please go here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrafael1/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRafael1
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRafaelBoxing
One alternative explanation:
Since a fight with Chisora is just an exhibition for Fury, he might as well give Lowe some coaching experience and a few $.
After all, Sugar and Tyson are business partners; and Tyson has been very generous with Sugar, including allowing Sugar to use his house in Vegas.
Then when he fights AJ or Usyk, he will partner with Sugar.
Fury should fight BOTH AJ and Usyk.
Fury is so full of shit (6'9" worth). His "retirement" was nonsense and his antics are tiring. He's an attention-seeking baby, and if he really thinks a 3rd fight with Chisora is something anybody wants to see, he's an even bigger clown than the one he dresses like.