Discussions for Tyson Fury’s undisputed heavyweight clash with Oleksandr Usyk will get underway in the coming days.
Bob Arum, who promotes Fury along with Frank Warren, revealed to Sky Sports that he expects to meet Usyk and his representatives this Thursday in New York.
“Oleksandr Usyk I look at as a very good friend because he is the best friend of Vasiliy Lomachenko. They’re very close, went to the same Olympic Games, and they share a manager in Egis Klimas who’s a very good friend of ours and coincidentally we [Top Rank] will be promoting Vasiliy’s next fight on October 29 from Madison Square Garden,” Arum told Sky Sports.
“Egis and Oleksandr Usyk will be there and I’ll be having dinner with them without any question, probably the Thursday night before the fight and so I’ll have a very long discussion with them about what their plans are and when it could be in their best interests to get the fight on.
“I know from previous conversations with both of them that they want that fight against Tyson Fury.”
Usyk looked formidable beating Anthony Joshua in two consecutive bouts and holds the unified WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight belts, while Fury is the reigning WBC champion.
A fight between the two would match up the world’s best heavyweights and create an undisputed champion.
“If there’s anybody around who really has a good, good chance with Tyson Fury,” Arum added, “it’s Oleksandr Usyk.”
However, nothing would be final or signed until after Fury’s title defence against Dereck Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on December 3.
“Chisora wasn’t selected by Frank Warren and myself for Tyson just out of the blue,” Arum said. “People tend to forget, yes Chisora lost twice early on to Tyson but remember his fight with Usyk where he gave Usyk life and death in that fight and then a lot thought that he might have eked out a victory in that fight.
“If you’re getting ready to fight Usyk, fight a guy who went in with him and carried him into deep waters.
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“Chisora is not just a walkover. Chisora has demonstrated tremendous punching power and if you lose concentration and he hits you in the right place on the chin, no matter what kind of chin Tyson Fury has, it’s dangerous.”
The promoter though is adamant that Fury vs Usyk will eventually come to fruition.
“We’re not signing for anything until the Chisora fight is over,” Arum explained. “I don’t count my chickens before they’re hatched. I’ll wait for that fight to be over.”
But he noted: “I’m confident that between Frank Warren and myself we’ll be getting it over the line.”
Arum is persuaded too that, despite talk of retirement earlier this year, Fury will be around for many more fights to come.
“When he said he was retiring I never believed him,” the promoter said. “Although I think he was sincere when he said it, I think he realised that to keep him going he needs boxing like an addict needs a drug. Because it keeps him pumping and justifies his existence. I have for years looked at Fury as someone who will keep fighting as long as he’s able.
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“This is something that is very, very important for his psyche.”
Arum added of Fury: “He is so unusual for a heavyweight because he’s so big, he’s such a great boxer and he can take a great punch and knock out an opponent as well.
“He has all the tools and even when the tools with some of them start diminishing, as they will probably three or four years from now, he’ll still have enough to keep going. Like George Foreman did, who knocked out Michael Moorer for the heavyweight title when he was 45.
“Talk about a larger-than-life guy. This guy is something special.”
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