Bob Arum has said that a fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk could yet take place this year, despite talks having fallen through last month for a proposed April 29 fight. Arum added that Fury's representatives could also look to resurrect talks around a fight with Anthony Joshua.
The Top Rank promoter, who acts as Fury's representative in the USA has said that, despite negotiations failing to reach a conclusion initially, the Usyk bout is very much still on the table. Usyk had accepted Fury's offer of a 70:30 purse split, but negotiations fell through when the pair could not agree on a rematch clause.
Following the breakdown in talks, the fight was dealt a further blow as the WBA declared that Usyk should face Daniel Dubois next, with the British fighter being mandatory challenger as WBA (Regular) world champion. Arum has explained where the negotiations currently stand, offering hope to fans of the heavyweight duo.
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In an interview with Fight Hub TV, Arum explained how the fight could still be made in the latter part of the year, even opening the possibility of Joshua being offered the chance to face Fury. He said: “I think Usyk knows that he has to fight Frank's (Warren) fighter, Dubois, which it isn’t an easy fight but Usyk should win. And I think Tyson might look to fight Joshua...if they both win (Fury and Usyk) I think they’ll revisit the fight for late November, December.”
Arum continued by adding that the delayed fight is down to the construction of a new stadium to host the fight in Saudi Arabia, one which would allow the fighters to negotiate an even more lucrative purse for the contest.
Arum added: “Because you’re Usyk and you can make say $15M fighting Fury — which is a good number — but if you go another route and you fight Fury in the winter in Saudi, you can make $50-60M. Now that’s a big difference, right? So there’s not real impetus to get the deal done because everybody is looking at greener pastures.
“If there was no Saudi possibility we would’ve made this fight in three days. But that was always the cloud hovering over the negotiations, and you can’t blame the fighters. You really can’t.
“The Saudis weren’t anxious to do the fight except in the winter because they’re building a stadium for the fight. So, you know, it is what it is. But I don’t fault either fighter.”
There has not been an undisputed heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 and with talks having looked to have fallen through, Arum's latest comments provide hope for the prospect of that happening in the not too distant future.
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