Tyson Fury: I’m going to have a world title by the end of the year

We’re already halfway through the year and all Tyson Fury has done since 2015 is win a glorified exhibition on Saturday in Manchester, but the 29-year-old former world heavyweight champion says he’s going to be back on top by the end of 2018.

“I felt fantastic, it was like having my debut again. I’ve had a long time out the ring and I needed some rounds, so I was taking my time. The calibre of opponents will keep on rising. I will be better next time. I’m going to have a world title by the end of the year — that’s a promise.”

It’s a good line and a promise to make, I guess, but you can probably throw it to the side. There are two world titleholders in the heavyweight division right now: Anthony Joshua (WBA, WBO, IBF) and Deontay Wilder (WBC).

Those guys are not only negotiating with one another for a potential fight in the late summer or early fall, but if they don’t fight one another, there are other targets, too. Joshua would face mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin, while Wilder would perhaps take on Dominic Breazeale.

It just doesn’t seem like there’s actually enough time for Fury (26-0, 19 KO) to land a world title shot, unless he’s got some info about potentially facing WBA “world” titleholder Manuel Charr by the end of 2018. Which I guess would make it technically a world title fight by the end of the year. Charr is currently set to face 45-year-old Fres Oquendo on September 29, so even that might be a stretch.