Tyson Fury looks set to fight again in 2020, even if expected next opponent Deontay Wilder isn’t available until 2021.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) drew against and then defeated Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) in a pair of heavyweight superfights for the WBC championship, and the two are set to complete the trilogy in the near future.
However, Bob Arum is reluctant to deliver the third fight this calendar year as previously hoped, with the chances of paid crowds returning in that time appearing non-existent.
Frank Warren, who co-promotes the unbeaten Fury along with Arum, told ESPN that he is determined to get "The Gypsy King" back between the ropes before the new year, even if that means Wilder’s rematch going onto the backburner.
"The first priority is to get Tyson in with Deontay Wilder, and the second priority is to get Tyson to fight this year," Warren said.
"I've got no conflict with Bob Arum, but Tyson is not going to wait until February to fight, it's not what he wants.
"Tyson is contracted to fight Deontay Wilder but Tyson has made it very clear that he wants to fight this year. He's been training all of this year and my job is to deliver him a fight if the Wilder fight cannot happen this year.
"It might be a 10-rounder, I don't know at the moment. It's no one's fault that this is the situation we are in but it can't go on forever and you have to make some commercial decision and for Tyson's wellbeing.
"I'm working on his behalf, he has been working very hard, and he wants to get back in the ring. At this stage I don't know what it will be, I just hope he fights before the end of the year and we need to somehow make the Deontay Wilder fight work.
"I have no idea how it's going to work at this stage. Their last fight was the highest grossing gate for a heavyweight fight in Las Vegas, and we can't forget that. But if you can't get fans you have to look at other scenarios.”
Warren said a Fury fight against either Anthony Joshua or Dillian Whyte has been ruled out for 2020.
If Fury is in need of a keep-busy, one name that has sprung up is a previous victim of his, Otto Wallin, who has said he would like a rematch.
Sweden’s Wallin (20-1, 13 KOs) proved to be a more difficult opponent for Fury than anyone expected him to be en route to a decision defeat in Las Vegas last September.
And if he is able to get past Travis Kaufmann (32-3-1, 23 KOs) in Connecticut on Saturday, 29-year-old Wallin could be the perfect combination of rematch intrigue and relative low risk for Fury to get in his hoped 2020 fight before finally moving onto completing the Wilder trilogy.