Fury vs. Usyk Back On: Saudis Respond to Fight Rumors, Fury’s Mandatory
An undisputed heavyweight fight with Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk may be back on the cards for next year.
That is according to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger. Talks for the fight for a showdown in April at Wembley broke down, much to the disappointment of fans. Despite Usyk agreeing to take a 70-30 split, the fight never got over the line.
Disputes over the terms of the rematch meant that it collapsed. Usyk was demanding the same split for the winner, while Fury wanted 50-50. Thereafter, both fighters went their own way.
Usyk faced Daniel Dubois as he stopped the Brit in the ninth round. Meanwhile, Fury will face Francis Ngannou on October 28th, 2023 in the latter’s boxing debut. But provided that both fighters remain unbeaten, fans could see a fight.
Fury-Usyk
“I’m told that talks are really heating up to match Fury & Usyk next year in Saudi Arabia. There’s a lot of optimism from the people I spoke to that fight is finally going to happen, provided Fury gets past [Francis] Ngannou, which I don’t think anyone is worried about that. I guess you never know,” Coppinger said
And yet, there are several obstacles that could prevent it happening. Turki Alalshikh, who happens to be the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, was instrumental in setting up the Fury-Ngannou fight.
Saudis Respond
In response, Alalshikh has warned fight fans to ignore rumors over any other big fights. This was unless he has stated so himself. Therefore, talks over Fury, Usyk, Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder remain uncertain.
“There is a lot of rumors in the market. I hope the fans of boxing don’t listen and care about any rumor until they have the official thing from our side. There are a lot of people talking about fighting in Saudi Arabia or meeting me. I never met anyone, except Frank, until now, and Bob and our team from Top Rank and the Tyson-Ngannou team,” Alalshikh stated
Fury’s Mandatory
In addition to this, the WBC is not in a hurry to resolve Fury’s mandatory situation. Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz Jr. were linked with a fight in an eliminator for the right to face Fury for his WBC belt.
However, the failure to agree purse splits meant it was scrapped. After all, Wilder’s side had offered 70-30, while Ruiz demanded 50-50. And yet, the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman is in no hurry to order anything.
“He has been willing, able, and trying to fight Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz Jr or anyone and has not been able to land the fight that the fans would like to see. Instead of waiting around, he has no mandatory contenders, so he is going to do this special event in Saudi Arabia.
“So don’t blame Tyson Fury. He has been there and been there ready…If you force the mandatory just for the sake of it, you are doing a disservice to the sport. We will not be rushing up a mandatory contender,” Sulaiman stated
Future
Those comments from Sulaiman will have consequences moving forward. If the fight with Usyk is still not made, then by the time Fury does have a mandatory, will the Ukrainian be the same fighter?
It is no secret that Usyk is in his late 30s as father time will catch up with everyone. And given what Fury has stated previously, he has no intention of facing Usyk unless its for a monster payday. His following comments confirmed as much.
“If Usyk is a good little boy, he might be an option but if he isn’t, he will just be another foreign middleweight that stays out in the cold. I will beat him, and I won’t even look for a body shot either. I will knock him out with a chin shot if that fight ever happens. If he is a good little boy and takes a small percentage of the superstar’s money then he will get a fight. If he wants big bucks. If he wants a seat at the king’s table then you’ve got to play ball with the master,” Fury said
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