Tyson Fury’s promoter Frank Warren has told the Saudis to show them the money.
Warren is in talks with the Saudis to stage Fury’s clash with Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed world heavyweight title in Riyadh and he says they are going to have to pay big. The Saudi Sports Ministry paid £66million for Usyk’s win over Anthony Joshua in Jeddah on Saturday and Warren says this fight is much bigger.
“We’ve had preliminary discussions a couple of months ago and the challenge is going to be meeting the financial expectations of both guys,” he said.“It’s going to be all about money. At the end of the day, it’s going to be about making it worthwhile for the guys.
“They’ve seen the money offered to the likes of golfers and so forth. This is not golf, this is much more dangerous and this is a unique sporting event, it’s sporting history. “For them, they’ve just done this fight, but this is the ultimate prize in boxing, the undisputed heavyweight championship being fought for.”
Warren has told the Saudis they are buying history because all four major heavyweight belts will be contested by two undefeated world champions for the first time. “It has to be much bigger because you’ve got two undefeated fighters and the first time, the four belts will be on the line,” said the Queensberry Promotions chief.
“It’s a unique situation and what adds to that is that they are both undefeated, which is quite unusual. And they’re undefeated guys who’ve been around a long time, they’re in their 30s. “They’re not like two young kids coming up, these are guys who’ve been through the ringer, have done everything.”
December 17 is the mooted date for the showdown outdoors in Riyadh and Warren says that Saturday is possible. “Tyson trains hard all the time,” said the Hall of Fame promoter. “He could be ready to fight in 10 weeks, there’s no doubt about that.
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“Usyk is going to need a break now, so come winter, I don’t think that would be a problem at all. Warren would like to sign a two-fight deal with Usyk’s team to allow for a rematch in the UK next summer and says Saudi is the most attractive option for the first contest.
“The problem for us is we can’t put it on in the UK in winter,” he said. “We would have to wait until the end of April, May next year and I’d much rather get the thing on. “There’s a lot of interest in Saudi. They have literally put their marker in the sand and said they are in big-time boxing. Well, there’s nothing bigger than this out there in the world of boxing.”
Warren also claimed Joshua should fight one of his heavyweights Daniel Dubois or Joe Joyce as he tries to rebuild his career.
“There are some good fights for him now,” he said. “I’d like to see him in with Dubois or Joe Joyce and the public would buy into them. They’re big fights for him.”
