The search continues for Tyson Fury’s next opponent and former IBF heavyweight titleholder Charles Martin could face the former unified champion.
According to Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, Martin has now emerged as a potential candidate to fight Fury in the fall. Though no date or venue has been set, the idea of Fury fighting in New York in late September or early October has been one that has been thrown around on multiple occasions.
Sources tell @TheAthleticBOX that Charles Martin is an option to fight Tyson Fury in the fall. ESPN is insisting on an American for Fury’s next fight, and Martin fits the bill as a former heavyweight titleholder
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) July 25, 2019
The idea of Fury facing Martin stems from the fact that Fury, ESPN and Top Rank are aiming for an American to face Fury in his second bout since signing a multi-fight deal with Top Rank earlier this year. Fury has publicly stated that someone that fits the bill for his next opponent is Trevor Bryan, who holds the interim WBA title, but Bryan is potentially facing off against secondary titleholder Manuel Charr though that fight has yet to be officially announced.
Another name that has been revealed as a potential candidate is heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller, who failed several drug tests in March which cost him a shot at Anthony Joshua’s WBA, WBO and IBF titles, later won by Andy Ruiz Jr. on June 1.
Martin briefly held the IBF title in 2016 that Fury would lose almost immediately when he won it in late 2015. In Martin’s first title defense after winning the belt, he lost to Joshua with a second-round KO in April of that year. Since then, Martin would go on to win four of his next five bouts with the lone loss being a close decision win against Adam Kownacki last September in Brooklyn, New York.
