Tyson Fury’s US promoter has revealed that negotiations over a potential meeting with Oleksandr Usyk have resumed, with the prospect of the world heavyweight title unification bout taking place in Saudi Arabia as part of a tournament also featuring Anthony Joshua.
Talks between WBC champion Fury and Usyk – who holds the WBA, WBO and IBF titles – broke down in March following a disagreement over how the purse would be split, with the promoter Bob Arum claiming this week Fury is likely to face Zhilei Zhang at Wembley in July following the Chinese fighter’s victory over Joe Joyce last month despite Joyce having activated a rematch clause on Tuesday.
But asked if discussions were back under way for a fight that would be expected to generate millions for both camps, Arum told Ringside Reporter: “Yes. That is correct. I have talked to a representative of Skills Challenge, that puts on these boxing events in Saudi Arabia. We know those people, we worked for them in connection with the Jake Paul and Tommy Fury fight as far as the US television is concerned, so we know who the players are and we’ve had some very interesting talks with them.”
Fury has previously dismissed suggestions that he could take part in a four-man tournament in Saudi Arabia that would also involve former world champion Joshua taking on American Deontay Wilder, with the winners potentially facing each other at a later date. “I can confirm that these rumours are absolute bullshit,” he said.
Joshua admitted last month that there “might be some truth” in reports he could face Wilder as part of the tournament. “Have you ever heard of anything like that before? Two heavyweight clashes on the same night,” he said. “The rumours that are circulating, there might be some truth behind it.”
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said on Thursday that he had yet to receive any offers from Saudi Arabia but had already indicated the former world champion’s willingness to take part.
“Everything that has been reported in terms of what they want to do is true,” Hearn told IFL TV. “Long way to go, no official offers made but we expect that offer to be incoming. I guess they will talk to the other interested parties and see if they can make it happen. If they can’t make both fights happen I believe they would be happy to proceed with AJ against Wilder. But it seems their intention is to do both fights on the same night.”
Usyk is expected to defend his WBA, IBF and WBO titles against Britain’s Daniel Dubois, who holds the WBA regular belt and is a mandatory challenger.
