Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are required to secure separate deals for their undisputed clash if it is set in Saudi Arabia.
The duo are set to compete with all the heavyweight belts on the line this spring, with an initial agreement reached for the pair to do battle. The pair came face-to-face at Fury's previous win over Derek Chisora to talk up a showdown, which has already been delayed once from last year as Usyk opted to take a break from the ring.
Details have not been finalised with a venue and date yet to be sealed, despite it being made clear that Saudi Arabia is in the most prominent position to offer a lucrative deal to host the event. In a fresh update on where negotiations have reached, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has claimed that Usyk's team have already reached a deal with the Middle Eastern country, so it is only left for Fury to be settled on the contract.
"I think the fighters want to fight each other, the question is where and the question is under what terms," Arum told Gareth A Davies when discussing the remaining factors for Fury's fight with Usyk to be finalised. "If the fight ends up in Saudi Arabia, each fighter will make his deal with the Saudis.
"Usyk’s people tell me that they have a deal that they’re satisfied with and now. And if the Saudis are truly interested, they’ll make a deal with us for Tyson Fury and we’re off to the races. The fight would take place either before or after Ramadan, but the fighters don’t need a long window to prepare.
"Everybody on both sides wants to do it, there’s no question about it. Hopefully, it’ll get done. If not, I think Fury has a number of options, one of whom is Joe Joyce, which would be a massive fight in the UK, and in America, come to that.”
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Fury and Usyk have already started trading verbal barbs on social media ahead of a potential fight, with the latter calling the Brit "belly" in response to his persistent "middleweight" criticism of the Ukrainian's stature. After his recent showdown with Chisora, the 'Gypsy King' event went as far as suggesting the British veteran was a tougher test than any potential clash with the unified champion.
"I don't think it is a tough fight," Fury told iFL TV of a potential showdown with Usyk. "I don't think it's nowhere near as tough as old Del Boy (Chisora). He will not stand up to those punches that Derek did against me. When I watch the fight between him and Derek, whether people want to admit it or not, it was a 50/50 fight. It might have been 55/45, but it wasn't a landslide. It wasn't like he didn't win a round, like he didn't against me."
