Negotiations for the mega heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are nearing completion. The winner of the boxing spectacle beckons a lot of money – and a lot of fame.
Not much stuck from Tyson Fury’s last fistfight. Except maybe Dereck Chisora’s Brain and Bones. The heavyweight world champion had beaten him up at will for ten rounds on the third December evening of the previous year in London – a sportingly worthless dismantling. But that was no longer of interest to anyone minutes after the “TKo” verdict was announced.
“Where’s Usyk, where’s the rabbit?” “Gypsy King” Fury spluttered into the London winter air to the cheers of his 60,000 boxing subjects at Tottenham Stadium. And Oleksandr Usyk, who came specially for the show, didn’t take long to ask. The Ukrainian climbed to the ring for a first staredown with Fury. Usyk calmly stared at the 2.06 giant and briefly showed his tooth gap while Fury blared insult after insult in his face.
Even Fury’s compatriot Joe Joyce, who intervened completely inappropriately when looking into the eyes of the heavyweight champions, did not shake Usyk’s composure. Surrounded by two hooting Englishmen, the guest first took a phone call, snapped a ring selfie with Fury and disappeared again. The message, however, was clear: The big chunk can come because of me!
Boxing expert Bönte: “The fight is coming – one hundred percent”
So that’s what stuck out from Tyson Fury’s final appearance: the overture to one of the greatest fights in recent boxing history. Because that the duel between the undefeated world champions Fury (fight record: 33 wins, 1 draw) and Usyk (20 wins) will soon also manifest itself between the ring ropes, there is actually no longer any doubt.
“The fight is coming – one hundred percent,” says boxing expert Bernd Bönte in an interview with RTL / ntv. The fight for the undisputed heavyweight world championship is far too tempting for everyone involved, after all, the titles of all world-renowned boxing associations are at stake.
Fury holds the WBC belt, Usyk holds the WBA, WBO and IBF. For the first time since 1999, since the great Lennox Lewis, a boxer could put the shattered crown back together and sit on his head (still a WBA, WBC and IBF trident in Lewis’s day).
“We sent them (the Usyks team, ed.) A draft contract, that’s the status,” said Fury’s British promoter Frank Warren at the weekend on the radio station “talkSPORT”. Time is pressing, the last details must be clarified quickly so that the fight can take place in March as planned. March 4th is generally regarded as the desired date for both camps.
Fury vs Usyk in Saudi Arabia?
The only thing left open is when and where the whole thing will take place. Bönte expects a cash spectacle in the Middle East, probably in Saudi Arabia, where Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua a second time last summer.
“In view of such a global mega-event, the rumored sums of 100 million dollars plus x hosting fee are peanuts for the Saudis. The whole sports world will be watching, and it is therefore an extremely prestigious investment for the Saudis,” said the long-time manager of the Klitschko Brothers.
Should Saudi Arabia lose interest in the boxing showdown, the United Arab Emirates, first and foremost Abu Dhabi, would be waving dollar bills.
Fury promoter Warren is reminiscent of Ali vs. Foreman
Warren makes no secret of the fact that the fight will take place “where most of the money comes from”. And there is indeed a lot to be said for Saudi Arabia.
The royal family had already secured the right to host the fight between English superstars Fury and Joshua in 2021 with a 150 million dollar club. Only an arbitration court in the USA, which sentenced Fury to a third duel with arch-rival Deontay Wilder, thwarted the plan.
“I know a lot of people complain about it. I also say that it should be at Wembley,” Warren admitted, referring to the controversial location (keyword: sportswashing) for the heavyweight ceremony.
However, the 70-year-old reminded that Fury against Usyk would not be the first boxing world championship on totalitarian terrain. “Muhammad Ali and George Foreman fought in Zaire, then there was the thrilla in Manila (Ali vs. Joe Frazier III in the Philippines 1975 ed.). They went where there was most money and that’s going to be the two of them also do.”
Around 100 million dollars beckon
There is always money to be made for Fury and Usyk. In addition to the three-digit million sum that is in the room as an event fee, pay-per-view revenue and ticket sales should make the cash register ring. The bottom line is that the boxers could collect around $100 million.
In terms of sport, the fame of being the king of kings in boxing is appealing – or the “big toe of God”, as the American writer Norman Mailer once called the heavyweight world champion.
From a purely boxing point of view, the fight of the (spring) year is a treat: On the one hand, Fury, 34 years old, 2.06 meters tall, a man of many styles, who has gained clout since working with trainer Sugar Hill Steward .
On the other side is Usyk, 35, who is 16 centimeters smaller, a self-contained, noble technician with brilliant footwork, southpaw, always feeling fit for 20 laps.
Bönte: Fury in the role of favourite
Bernd Bönte sees Fury, who ended Wladimir Klitschko’s reign in 2015, as the favorite. “The old boxing wisdom says that the good big boxer beats the good little boxer,” says the fistfighting connoisseur. Bönte commented live at the ring on Lennox Lewis’ (1.96 m) victory over Evander Holyfield (1.88 m) in the last undisputed showdown in Las Vegas in 1999. An empirical proof of the big-small thesis.
But: “Usyk has always found solutions against every opponent so far. Against Fury he would always have to get into the man on fast legs from a distance, make combinations and get out again immediately. Stick and move, as the Americans say. Exciting to see whether he succeeds.”
If Usyk also decodes the Fury code, he would set a monument far beyond Ukraine. He would be the first boxer since the legendary Holyfield to win all world titles, first in cruiser and then in heavyweight. Fury, on the other hand, would cement his status as the best heavyweight of his generation with a win.
Will Joshua and Wilder fight?
In addition to the fight for number 1, another big thing could bloom in the boxing world in 2023. Deontay Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel and Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn unanimously announced that they would restore a hot wire across the Atlantic.
Joshua vs. Wilder – the British-American clash of the strongest punchers has often been negotiated, the explosive duel should have taken place years ago. Because of the co-power and the marketability of the ex-world champions, it would probably take on similar dimensions as Fury against Usyk.
Hearn recently spread a three-fight plan for his protégé at DAZN to “rebuild” “AJ”. In the spring, Joshua should first make his comeback against a man from the top 15, in the summer then his old English rival Dillian Whyte, and in the fall finally Wilder.
He also believes that the British blockbuster between Fury and Joshua, which broke at the end of 2022, will come at some point, says Hearn. But Joshua has to get back on track after his bankruptcies against Usyk.
2023 could be a spectacular boxing year
And Deontay Wilder? The “Bronze Bomber” is back in business after his blitz knockout against Robert Helenius last October. The world association WBC has ordered a world championship elimination between Wilder and Joshua conqueror Andy Ruiz. A fight between the American ex-champions – a blockbuster at least in the USA.
If Wilder wins, he would have the right to a fourth ring rendezvous with Fury in addition to the sportingly and financially lucrative option of Joshua. He has already indicated his interest.
A lot of future music. First of all, there is a king to be crowned. Possibly the start of a spectacular year in heavyweight boxing.
Martin Armbruster