In heavyweight boxing news, Chris Algieri has called on the WBC to strip Tyson Fury of his heavyweight title following his failure to defend the belt. 

Those comments arrived just as Fury prepares to face Francis Ngannou on October 28th, 2023. Fury arrives as the heavy favorite, given that Ngannou has never boxed before.

While the fight will be on their respective records, Fury’s WBC title is not on the line. At the same time, an undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk failed even when the Ukrainian accepted a 70-30 split against him.

Since then, Fury has made it clear that he does not intend on fighting Usyk. His aim is to secure the fights which make the most money. And given that Fury could have had a voluntary defense, Algieri has now called on the WBC to act. 

Algieri On Fury

"I say strip  Fury. Hrgovic & Zhang fight for that title with the WBC.That would be a dream. It’s not going to happen. Because he hasn’t defended. I don’t think he’s [Fury] going to have a big fight with anybody. He’s talking about fighting Jon Jones next. He’s not fielding boxing questions. He’s [Fury] making side deals on his own, and he’s holding onto a belt [WBC] that he hasn’t defended in over a year.  It’s going to be it’s going to be a year and change until if he were to come back in and box again. “What are we doing with that [WBC] title? It’s sitting idle; it’s not being defended. The other fighters are not being able to vie for it to become a world champion, and we’re not getting an undisputed," Algieri stated

Fury’s Defense

In Fury’s defense, though, the mandatory situation is out of his hands. The WBC ordered Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz to face each other in a WBC-title eliminator.

However, problems emerged over purse splits. Wilder offered 70-30 while Ruiz wanted an equal split as talks failed. And yet, it has been over a year since Fury defended his belt against Dillian Whyte.

So if he were stripped, then Zhilei Zhang and Filip Hrgovic could be in line to fight for the vacant belt. Either way, something has to change to get the division moving. 

Zhang’s Tactics For Joyce

And by the looks of it, Zhang is willing to do what it takes to win. The Chinese reportedly had insiders keeping an eye on Joe Joyce’s training as the Chinese recorded his second win over the Brit. 

In a rematch of their first fight, Zhang stopped Joyce even quicker with a third-round knockout. During the course of the first round, Joyce’s tactics were clear. The heavyweight chose to move around the outside in an attempt to negate Zhang’s left hand.

Although that may have been the case, the tactics ultimately backfired. The Chinese’s right hand did the damage as the hook sent Joyce to the floor, with the referee waving off the fight. 

And now Zhang’s manager, Terry Lane, has stated that they had ‘spies’ in place to check out Joyce’s changes. That is why Lane was surprised by Joyce’s decision to come in at a career-heaviest weight, given that he was intent on moving around the ring. 

Zhang Spied On Joyce

"We were going to bring down the guard (of Joyce). We knew he was going to move to his left. We had spies on him in Las Vegas. We knew that was all they were working on. If you’re moving to your left but you gain 25 pounds, that’s not really gonna—you’re not gonna turn into Muhammad Ali in there. Listen, we were prepared for all that. Nothing was a surprise tonight. We were shocked at how heavy he was," Lane

Ultimately, Joyce’s loss has given other fighters the blueprint over how to stop the ‘Juggernaut.’ And until Joyce makes some major changes to his technique, the one-dimensional nature of his style may not prove effective moving forward. 

Therefore, Joyce has to consider whether he should retire since a world title fight is unlikely at the age of 38. As such, the boxer’s motivations for fighting has to be clear moving forward.

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