Tyson Fury will return to the ring no later than April and his next fight is highly likely to take place in the UK, his co-promoter Bob Arum has stated.
Fury retained his WBC heavyweight belt earlier this month with a thrilling victory over Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas but dreams of a unification bout against Anthony Joshua were shattered after his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
That means Fury looks set to have to face at least one more opponent before a prospective bout with Joshua or Usyk, which could be against a fellow Brit in either Dillian Whyte or Joe Joyce.
Ultimately, the decision will come down to Fury, although the WBC could mandate that Whyte is given his chance at the title, and it's 'very important' that the fight takes place in the UK, Arum has said.
"Who Fury fights next will be determined by Fury. If the fight is in the UK, I would think Whyte would be a good possibility, as well as Joyce," he told Sky Sports.
"It is very, very important that Tyson, having done his last five fights in the US, that he goes back and does a fight in the UK.
"He is a Brit, he has plenty of fans in the UK, and if he does a fight in the UK then comes back to the US, he will bring 10,000 Brits with him. American fans have to learn to sing like the Brits!
"Frank Warren is going to Manchester to meet Fury to work out a date. It could be March or April, but no later than April.
"A date that would be appealing to us in the US, even if the fight took place in the UK, would be the middle of April because we have a college basketball tournament called March Madness which the country goes crazy for. It is tough to find a date for a big fight [during March Madness].
"We will figure out who and when Tyson will fight next."
