Who will be Tyson Fury’s opponent on Dec. 5?

Promoter Bob Arum threw out five names as potential opponents for Tyson Fury’s projected fight on Dec. 5 in London.

The search is on.

Bob Arum, the heavyweight titleholder’s co-promoter, threw out a list of five potential opponents for Tyson Fury for a projected fight on Dec. 5 in London (in alphabetical order): Efe Ajagba, Michael Hunter, Agit Kabayel, Charles Martin and Oscar Rivas.

Fury was expected to face Deontay Wilder in third fight before the end of the year but a rematch clause from the second fight reportedly expired before they could reach a deal.

‘Five guys who are possible,” Arum told  IFL TV. “There’s Efe, the African is there. There’s Agit. Rivas is there and there are two others that are there. We’ll have to pick out, see who’s available and pick it out.”

Fury-Wilder III was supposed to happen in July but was pushed back to October amid the coronavirus pandemic and a biceps injury Wilder said he suffered his knockout loss to Fury in February. The fight was then moved to December.

When the sides still couldn’t make the fight, Fury moved on. His U.K.-based co-promoter Frank Warren said his client got fed up.

And Arum, expecting protests from the Wilder camp, told BoxingScene.com that Wilder has no legal recourse that would force Fury to fight him next.

“There’s definitely no legal recourse for them,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “Are they gonna complain? Sure. You’ve gotta understand, the reason there was this very certain window for the rematch, that some people might say was a small window, is that it was negotiated by both sides.

“And as I recall it, they thought they were gonna win, so they wanted as small a window as possible to get rid of the third fight, so they would go on and not be burdened. So, it wasn’t like we insisted that the window be very small to do the third fight, because we didn’t know we were gonna win the fight.”

It’s not clear when or even if Fury will fight Wilder again. Fury’s plan is to fight on Dec. 5 and then face Anthony Joshua in a massive all-U.K. title-unification, assuming Joshua beats Kubrat Pulev on Dec. 12.

Fury’s handlers obviously are seeking a second-tier opponent based on the names Arum mentioned.

  • Ajagba (14-0, 11 KOs) is a promising young heavyweight but probably doesn’t have the experience to tangle with Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), although at 6-foot-6 he wouldn’t be dwarfed by the 6-9 Fury.
  • Hunter (18-1-1, 12 KOs) lost a wide decision to then-cruiserweight titleholder Oleksandr Usyk in 2017 and then moved up to heavyweight, at which he’s 6-0-1. He is coming off a split draw with Alexander Povetkin last December. At 6-foot-2, he’s seven inches shorter than Fury.
  • Kabayel (20-0, 13 KOs) is the European heavyweight titleholder and has a majority-decision victory over Dereck Chisora on his record. He’s 6-3.
  • The 6-5 Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) won a vacant heavyweight title by beating Vyacheslav Glazkov in 2016 but looked horrible in his first defense against Joshua, losing by a second-round knockout. He’s 5-1 since, including a six-round KO of Gerald Washington in February.
  • And Rivas (26-1, 18 KOs), a short (6-0½), but thick Colombian, was on a nice roll but lost a unanimous decision against Dillian Whyte on July 20.

Who will be Tyson Fury’s opponent on Dec. 5?

Promoter Bob Arum threw out five names as potential opponents for Tyson Fury’s projected fight on Dec. 5 in London.

The search is on.

Bob Arum, the heavyweight titleholder’s co-promoter, threw out a list of five potential opponents for Tyson Fury for a projected fight on Dec. 5 in London (in alphabetical order): Efe Ajagba, Michael Hunter, Agit Kabayel, Charles Martin and Oscar Rivas.

Fury was expected to face Deontay Wilder in third fight before the end of the year but a rematch clause from the second fight reportedly expired before they could reach a deal.

‘Five guys who are possible,” Arum told  IFL TV. “There’s Efe, the African is there. There’s Agit. Rivas is there and there are two others that are there. We’ll have to pick out, see who’s available and pick it out.”

Fury-Wilder III was supposed to happen in July but was pushed back to October amid the coronavirus pandemic and a biceps injury Wilder said he suffered his knockout loss to Fury in February. The fight was then moved to December.

When the sides still couldn’t make the fight, Fury moved on. His U.K.-based co-promoter Frank Warren said his client got fed up.

And Arum, expecting protests from the Wilder camp, told BoxingScene.com that Wilder has no legal recourse that would force Fury to fight him next.

“There’s definitely no legal recourse for them,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “Are they gonna complain? Sure. You’ve gotta understand, the reason there was this very certain window for the rematch, that some people might say was a small window, is that it was negotiated by both sides.

“And as I recall it, they thought they were gonna win, so they wanted as small a window as possible to get rid of the third fight, so they would go on and not be burdened. So, it wasn’t like we insisted that the window be very small to do the third fight, because we didn’t know we were gonna win the fight.”

It’s not clear when or even if Fury will fight Wilder again. Fury’s plan is to fight on Dec. 5 and then face Anthony Joshua in a massive all-U.K. title-unification, assuming Joshua beats Kubrat Pulev on Dec. 12.

Fury’s handlers obviously are seeking a second-tier opponent based on the names Arum mentioned.

  • Ajagba (14-0, 11 KOs) is a promising young heavyweight but probably doesn’t have the experience to tangle with Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), although at 6-foot-6 he wouldn’t be dwarfed by the 6-9 Fury.
  • Hunter (18-1-1, 12 KOs) lost a wide decision to then-cruiserweight titleholder Oleksandr Usyk in 2017 and then moved up to heavyweight, at which he’s 6-0-1. He is coming off a split draw with Alexander Povetkin last December. At 6-foot-2, he’s seven inches shorter than Fury.
  • Kabayel (20-0, 13 KOs) is the European heavyweight titleholder and has a majority-decision victory over Dereck Chisora on his record. He’s 6-3.
  • The 6-5 Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) won a vacant heavyweight title by beating Vyacheslav Glazkov in 2016 but looked horrible in his first defense against Joshua, losing by a second-round knockout. He’s 5-1 since, including a six-round KO of Gerald Washington in February.
  • And Rivas (26-1, 18 KOs), a short (6-0½), but thick Colombian, was on a nice roll but lost a unanimous decision against Dillian Whyte on July 20.