TYSON Fury can ride off into the sunset as the greatest heavyweight of his generation, aged 33 and 33 fights undefeated, following victory over Dillian Whyte on Saturday.

A capacity 94,000 fans will pack out Wembley Stadium for the homecoming of ‘The Gypsy King’, making the second defence of the WBC heavyweight title and his #1 ranking Ring magazine crown.

With unified champion Oleksander Usyk and Fury’s British rival Anthony Joshua yet to announce a date or venue for their rematch, Fury has no clear challenge on the horizon come Sunday morning.

Even if Usyk-Joshua 2 plays out later in the summer, or more likely now early autumn, victory for the challenger would undoubtedly lead to a third fight early in 2023.

And, even if Usyk were successful, the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the political infighting of the three governing body belts he possesses means a potential undisputed unification matchup with Fury would face adversity from the get go.

Add to that recent US government sanctions against Fury’s former advisor, and the stage is set for Tyson to once again walk away from boxing – at least in the immediate sense.

Nailed to the Canvas?

Tyson said earlier this week: “It’s been a long old journey, ups and downs in my career, lots of ups and downs. I’m coming up to 34, 20 years as a boxer, that’s enough for anybody. There’s plenty of other stuff I need to do like look after my kids and wife and enjoy them.”

Of course, I have little doubt he will be back. He’s a fighting man and fighting men don’t get to switch their primal instincts off so easily.

In 18 months to two years Tyson will return. Whether that’s after Usyk and AJ settle their business and one sits atop the heavyweight throne, or perhaps the emergence of fresh challengers worthy of adding to his legacy.

DILLIAN’S DESTINY

That is all, of course, based on Tyson being successful on Saturday night. And whilst he’s a strong favourite, in boxing, especially heavyweight boxing, often the seemingly straight forward assignments are the most precarious.

Whyte, 34, has waited longer than most for his chance at the heavyweight championship of the world.

‘The Bodysnatcher’ (28-2) has been ranked highly by the WBC since 2015, yet only now gets a shot at the green and gold belt, and it comes in his own backyard and with the biggest pay day of his career attached.

The Jamaican-born challenger has overcome a life of true hardships to make his fortune in the fight game. But his patient approach to heavyweight glory means he can’t afford to allow this chance to pass him by. He has to gamble.

Whyte can’t outbox Fury over 12 rounds, that’s just not happening. He doesn’t have the skill or the will to out manoeuvre the champion over the distance. But what he may be able to do is make it ugly and draw Tyson into a shoot-out.

Admittedly, that tactic is a risk too. After all, Fury has just out-punched and knocked out the biggest KO artist in heavyweight history not once but twice. Deontay Wilder hits far harder than Whyte, yet he couldn’t keep Tyson on the canvas.

But it only takes one clean, unseen shot to turn fights around when the gladiators are the size of Marvel universe superheroes and catching Tyson early and rocking him out of his rhythm is Dillian’s best hope of causing the upset.

Is he willing to gamble on himself and his power early on rather than allow Tyson to box him up and run away with it on the cards? That’s the big question for me. The challenger has to come out of the blocks fast and throw everything he has at the first six rounds.

I believe he will. Dillian will step up and take his shot. But I also believe Tyson will ride that storm and prove too big, too strong and too good before setting up a spectacular finish of his own.

TIP: Fury by knockout Rounds 7-9 (13/4)