The fight of boxing world champions Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is almost perfect. According to information from Sky Sports Great Britain, promoter Bob Arum announced this on Wednesday. The duel for dominance in the heavyweight division is to be held in the first four months of next year. However, the date and location have not yet been determined. A fight in the Middle East or at Wembley Stadium in London is under discussion.
The 35-year-old Ukrainian Usyk is world champion of the associations WBA, WBO, and IBF, the one year younger Briton Fury holds the title of the WBC. The winner can call himself the undisputed champion. The British Lennox Lewis was the last heavyweight to do so in 2000. He won the titles of WBC, IBF and WBA. At that time, the WBO did not have the status it has today. Usyk was already a champion of the four major associations, but at cruiserweight (up to 90.718 kg), a class below heavyweight.
“With Fury and Usyk we are dealing with two grown people, there is not much back and forth. Usyk is a close friend of mine, he is very intelligent. And Tyson is Superman both as an athlete and as an intellectual,” said US promoter Arum, who is marketing Fury.
The point of contention could be the division of the stock exchange. “Fighters have relatively short lives, and money is important. So if the money that has been proposed to us is realistic, that has to be taken into account,” said the 91-year-old. Both boxers are said to have pledged not to fight another fight before they meet.
Fury most recently defeated his compatriot Dereck Chisora by technical knockout in London after the referee stopped the fight in the tenth round. The Brit is undefeated in 34 professional fights, 24 of which he won prematurely. He is said to have received around 25 million euros for his last win to date.
