Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk could split a massive £120million purse for their pencilled-in undisputed heavyweight title fight.
The duo are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia at the end of the year in a monumental heavyweight event that could also feature Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder. Fury and Usyk were in talks to fight on April 29 but their undisputed clash broke down after the two parties disagreed over a rematch clause, despite Usyk agreeing to a 70/30 purse split in Fury's favour.
Saudi Arabian promotional company Skills Challenge Entertainment are willing to put up a purse in the region of £121million for the fight, according to The Telegraph. The promotion moved a step closer to hosting the fight by adding Usyk to its roster last week. The Ukrainian has already fought under Skills Challenge before as his rematch against Joshua last August was promoted by the company.
Who wins in the undisputed title clash - Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
Fury has claimed Usyk was set to make £13million for their ill-fated fight at Wembley Stadium in April. The Brit has since mocked his rival for taking a "50 per cent" pay cut in his upcoming fight against Daniel Dubois, which takes place on August 26 in Poland. A win for Usyk against Dubois will be vital for keeping his hopes of an undisputed clash against Fury in December alive.
'The Gypsy King' was linked to fights against Andy Ruiz Jr and Zhilei Zhang in late summer, but neither of the match-ups came to fruition. Fury offered Joshua the chance to fight in September but his promoter Eddie Hearn insisted they never received a proposal from the WBC titleholder's team.
Hearn has since suggested that Fury, who labelled Joshua a "p****" for turning down his offer, should fight Filip Hrgovic whilst waiting for a big name opponent. "When you look at the rankings, say you’re playing matchmaker for Tyson Fury. If AJ fights Dillian Whyte then Wilder and Usyk fights Dubois. I’ll tell you if he wants, he can fight Filip Hrgovic. If he is looking for an opponent, we've got the Hrgovic fight," Hearn told Boxing Social.
"Tyson Fury is smart, he doesn't want a risky fight. Before Joe Joyce got beat he kept saying 'Yeah once I've fought Usyk then you can get it Joyce' because he didn't really fancy the Joyce fight. I know he thinks he can win the fight but he will only take those big fights if the money is massive."
