Top Rank chief Bob Arum says WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and unified three-belt king Oleksandr Usyk have “agreed to fight each other”. The 91-year-old co-promotes ‘The Gypsy King’ and claimed to be “very confident” that a deal will be reached when speaking to Sky Sports.
This comes hot on the heels of Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, telling The Mirror that the fight “should happen no later than March 4.” Krassyuk also said he would be willing to compromise on location, citing “anywhere in the universe” as a potential venue.
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This talk is encouraging, but we know how much things can change in boxing. Fury himself was involved in his own will-they-or-won’t-they fiasco this year already. A potential fight between the WBC champion and Anthony Joshua was subject to public negotiations and both sides said they were confident it would take place. And yet, Fury finished the year knocking out an aging Derek Chisora while Joshua hasn’t fought since an August defeat to Usyk.
Fury-Usyk is far from confirmed, even though you will see it reported as such on multiple click-harvesting web outlets. What has happened so far is the fighters have both agreed they want to fight the other. That’s the easy part. The thorny issues of money and venue are yet to be resolved. As always with these superfights, the Middle East is being eyed as a possible venue. They’re probably ordering in a heavyweight champion-sized bisht as we speak.
A stadium in the UK would produce the best atmosphere, though Usyk would perhaps argue that the fact he holds three of the four titles should mean Fury doesn’t get home advantage. The money is most often the fatal blow to a major fight. The sensible thing would be a 50-50 split, considering this fight is the biggest available to both men. But boxing is rarely simple and, despite Arum’s words, we can expect something of a saga as the numbers are crunched.
But really, there should be no issue big enough for this fight to collapse as a result. Fury could face ‘AJ’. Usyk could face Wilder. Either could face Joe Joyce, as was hinted by a post-fight confrontation between the three after Fury stopped Chisora. But none of these fights would generate the interest of an undisputed heavyweight championship clash between two unbeaten fighters.
Those last two details are why this fight needs to happen sooner rather than later. Both have yet to taste defeat, a vital component in the intrigue this match creates. They are also in possession of every major heavyweight belt between them. With the sanctioning bodies beginning to apply pressure on the pair to face their mandatories, this won’t be a four-belt unification fight forever. Move too slowly and this bout loses part of its historical significance.
There is also the issue of waiting too long and the fight itself having less significance when it takes place. Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao, Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis and Amir Khan vs Kell Brook are just some of the big fights that could have been bigger had they been made at the fighters’ peaks. Instead, painful losses on the road to these delayed bouts blunted their impact. They were big, sure. But they could have been astronomical.
This is why Fury and Usyk need to follow through on this alleged agreement. They must get the fight in the ring. For the fans, for their own careers and for their legacies. Boxing needs the bout and so do they. Let’s crown an undisputed heavyweight champion in 2023.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
