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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Harry Davies

Oleksandr Usyk open to undisputed Tyson Fury clash amid Anthony Joshua step-aside talks

Oleksandr Usyk remains open to an undisputed clash with Tyson Fury after doubts over the Ukrainian's second clash with Anthony Joshua.

Usyk is set to rematch Joshua following their fight last September, with Fury expected to defend his WBC world title against Dillian Whyte in the coming months

However, the heavyweight title picture continues to change as Fury's promoter Bob Arum labelled it "total chaos" and said the Middle East has offered to host the undisputed title fight.

And Usyk's promoter said that whilst little has changed since last year, the unified champion is still open to a fight with Fury.

"Since November - not much has changed," Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk told Sky Sports.

Purse bids for Fury's fight with domestic rival Whyte have been pushed back twice and will now take place this Friday.

Arum admitted that he is unsure who Fury will fight next, but would like it to be Usyk.

"The fight we would like to make is between Usyk and Fury. That is a fight to unify the titles once and for all. Then Joshua can fight the winner of the undisputed fight," he said.

"Whyte can stand in line and fight the winner ultimately. That's what Tyson would like and I represent Tyson. That is his preference."

Fury's team have been pressing Joshua to step aside from his rematch with Usyk, with Hearn previously claiming it would take least £40million to do so.

Whyte's ongoing arbitration case with the WBC put his fight with Fury in doubt, which 'The Gypsy King' linked with non-title bouts against Andy Ruiz Jr or Robert Helenius.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn said whilst the Brit's rematch with Usyk is still being worked on, 'AJ' could be paid to step aside to allow the undisputed fight.

"I think [Arum] also said he's not very confident that will happen, I still think there's a chance of that, we're still moving towards Joshua-Usyk and Fury-Whyte," Hearn told Boxing Social.

Should Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte step aside? Let us know in the comments section below

"But there are still people who would like to see Usyk fight Fury and there is a lot of money there for it.

"If there's a lot of money in the pot and everybody can be taken care of and more importantly a plan can be put in place for those fighters then there is a chance of that happening then it's time.

"These are conversations that started a month ago, but they're also very complicated conversations that take time, but right now AJ is focused on fighting Oleksandr Usyk.

"If those discussions resurface, and things can change very quickly, then we would entertain those but as Bob says, the likely scenario is the alternative move."

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