TYSON FURY: What did we learn, and what now for Britain's heavyweight champ?

Well, I don’t think many of us saw that one coming.

Tyson Fury is the heavyweight champion of the world, now holding all but one of the major championships in his division after doing what was seen as the impossible and taking them all from Wladimir Klitschko by not only winning the fight, but by making the Ukrainian look as inefficient as he has ever looked.

The fight wasn’t great from a spectator’s standpoint, but we have to be honest here: for just 12 rounds of boxing, Fury had to stop being the entertainer and needed to do what it took to ensure he emerged victorious. And he did.

While Wladimir has a rematch clause and appeared keen (if not completely decisive while being hounded by questions at the post-event press conference) to invoke it sometime in 2016, I cannot help but be an enthusiastic British boxing fan and look at Fury’s future from a rather selfish and wholly domestic point of view.

After all, Britain and Ireland currently have no fewer than 12 recognised world boxing champions, and Fury’s big moment was followed hours later by James DeGale retaining his IBF super-middleweight crown against Lucian Bute on the other side of the Atlantic.

So, potential of a Klitschko rematch aside, what is next for Tyson Fury? What fight would us fans really want to see, that we think could make up for the difficult encounter we had to endure watching this weekend which led to Fury rising to the top of the mountain?

The first name that springs to mind is David Haye. Haye was last considered an active boxer when he was due, on two occasions, to fight Fury in a mouthwatering ‘put up or shut up’ British battle of the big-mouths. Both times, Haye pulled out injured. The second time, he seemed to retire the ‘Hayemaker’.

Until now.

Haye will return to the ring in January against Mark de Mori. This will surely be the 35-year-old’s final chance to eventually reclaim his status as a world champion.

But, after what Fury went through with Haye before, it’s hard to see him giving the Londoner the time of day unless Haye is able to work his way back up to mandatory challenger status.

There’s the only other man who holds a world heavyweight title, undefeated American Deontay Wilder. The clash of two perfect records for an undisputed, unified world title at the sport’s most famed weight class would be a very easy sell.

However, Fury seems to be in no rush for that particular prospect, as he branded Wilder a ‘novice’ shortly after dethroning Klitschko and declared that the American will have to wait his turn.

Of course, the one most Brit fans would love to see is one which may take 12-18 months to be ready - and that’s the prospect of Fury defending his belts against Olympic gold medallist and menacing professional prodigy Anthony Joshua.

Joshua does need a few more fights of higher quality before world title opportunities should be considered. But it’s worth considering that, even up to now, Joshua has shown some very dangerous signs of having what it takes.

For instance, he wiped out notoriously-rugged American Kevin Johnson in just two rounds in May. ‘Kingpin’ unsuccessfully challenged Wlad’s brother Vitali in a world title fight several years ago, but while that was the closest thing to a selling point his actual boxing prowess ever reached, his strongest attribute was that he had never been stopped by an opponent before. Not Vitali, not Fury himself, nobody. Until AJ did it in those two, brutal rounds.

Can Joshua sustain what he can dish out? That’s a question unanswered for now. Perhaps Dillan Whyte will offer some new tests for Eddie Hearn’s golden boy when they clash in just a couple of weeks at the O2 Arena.

If Joshua emerges from that collision as impressively as he has all of his professional tasks so far, this writer truly hopes that Matchroom and Hennessy do not waste too much time in making Fury Joshua happen, while the appeal (and the belts) are definitely still there.