Saudi Arabia set to host Fury v Usyk
Qatar and London had been mentioned as alternative venues
The deal for Tyson Fury to fight Oleksandr Usyk is “almost done” and the undisputed heavyweight clash could be held as soon as late February in Saudi Arabia.
The Ukrainian’s manager, Egis Klimas, suggested talks were advanced but said that Qatar and London had been mentioned as alternative venues.
The main stumbling block is the admission Fury made in the ring after defending his WBC belt against Dereck Chisora that he “maybe” needs surgery on his right elbow.
That would rule him out of action for about six weeks and if he does have an operation before he takes on Usyk, the WBA, IBF and WBO champion, then the date would have to be moved back.
Usyk, a year older than Fury at 35, is an orthodox Christian who has said that he will be fasting before Easter, so if the clash does not happen by his stated deadline of March 4, it may have to be mothballed for months.
Klimas painted a more optimistic picture as he told talkSPORT: “We are almost done. There is not much to talk, two heavyweights, the undisputed heavyweight championship bout, that’s what people need.”
Klimas said that he had been part of a conference call with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and Top Rank, Fury’s UK and US promoters respectively, and that Qatar and London had also been mentioned as possible venues. “Most likely we are aiming for Saudi,” Klimas said.
After the frustration of the Fury-Anthony Joshua fight that never happened, both sides are more confident this time. Usyk, now back in Kyiv, was in London on Saturday, to watch Fury face Chisora, when Warren said: “There are no obstacles in the way of making the fight.” Fury, himself, said he wanted to take on Usyk and had a “good feeling” it would happen. If not, he said he would fight Joe Joyce in what would be a huge all-British occasion.
Fury said: “I think he’s willing. He looks willing. I would like to think there’s not a man born who could beat me in my own era, but you can never underestimate anybody.”
Fury would have a considerable size advantage against the former cruiserweight champion, but Usyk is also unbeaten and most recently beat Joshua twice within a year. Fury will regard Usyk with huge respect and, after repeatedly belittling the Ukrainian’s size this year, offered a more nuanced view yesterday.
“He’s a lot bigger than Muhammad Ali was back in the day,” Fury said. “He’s bigger than Evander Holyfield, he’s bigger than Mike Tyson, he’s bigger than Joe Frazier.” Fury, though, is the giant of the division in every sense.
