Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk agree to fight each other next, says promoter Bob Arum | Boxing News
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have agreed to fight each other next.
The two hold all four of the major heavyweight world title belts between them and their richly anticipated fight would decide the undisputed heavyweight world championship.
Bob Arum of Top Rank, the US company that co-promotes Fury with Queensberry Promotions in the UK, revealed to Sky Sports that neither Fury, the WBC champion, nor Usyk, the unified WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight titlist, would take a bout before that showdown.
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Shane McGuigan, Gary Logan join Andy Scott as they look back at Oleksandr Usyk’s wins over Anthony Joshua and pinpoint the advantages for Tyson Fury
Fury and Usyk are set on having the undisputed contest in early 2023, with only the exact date and the location to be finalised.
“The two fighters have agreed to fight each other next,” Arum told Sky Sports.
“With Fury and Usyk we’re dealing with two adults, not a lot of [rubbish] back and forth. Usyk is a good friend of mine, he’s very intelligent and Tyson is Superman, both as an athlete and as an intellect,” he continued.
Oleksandr Usyk stares at Tyson Fury after his last contest
“So they want the fight. Both of them want the fight and so there’ll be very little, if any, [messing] around. So we’ll be able to make that happen. I’m very, very confident. As I said the fighters have both agreed to fight each other next without any interim fights.”
The UK is still in the running to host the fight, despite lucrative offers to take it to a venue in the Middle East.
“Now the question is what’s the date and what’s the site,” Arum said. “But that fight is definitely going to happen and it will happen in the first four months of next year.
Tyson Fury’s promoter says the fight will happen
“We are balancing a couple of significant offers from the Mid East and also there’s the possibility of doing the fight in the UK at Wembley [stadium] with a massive 95,000 crowd in attendance.
“Fighters have a relatively short life and money is important. So if the money which has been proposed to us is real that has to be taken into consideration.”
But he added: “To go back to Wembley and do a fight before 95,000 people for me really stirs up the blood.
“It would be crazy. It would just be wonderful.”
It shouldn’t be too long before a final decision is made. “We’ll have it all sorted out,” Arum said. “I hope maybe by the end of the year.”
