Tyson Fury’s promoter Bob Arum has revealed that the ‘Gypsy King’ will fight in America if Anthony Joshua loses his mandatory defence against Oleksandr Usyk in September
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Hearn hopeful for Joshua v Fury bout early in 2022
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has revealed an alternative plan for Tyson Fury if Anthony Joshua loses his mandatory world title defence to Oleksandr Usyk in September.
Fury was set to complete his trilogy with heavyweight rival Deontay Wilder back in July, but a Covid-19 outbreak in camp caused the fight to be rescheduled for a later date of October 9.
And his promoter Arum has revealed that he could be set to face another battle in America, if Joshua cannot progress past Usyk and plans for an undisputed fight next year are scuppered.
“There are a lot of good heavyweights that we could fight,” Arum told Sky Sports.
“Tyson, because of his personality, has really appealed to the American audience and is such a big favourite in the US.
“He is larger than life, he is a straight talker, and people in the States love him.
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“We would do a fight for Tyson in the US while Joshua and Usyk finish their business.”
A rematch would be likely should Joshua taste defeat to the Ukrainian heavyweight, with all of his world heavyweight title belts set to be on the line at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September.
Usyk has recently graduated from the cruiserweight ranks as undisputed world champion, completing his switch to the blue-ribbon division with unanimous decision victory over Derek Chisora in his first fight at the higher weight back in October 2020.
And American promoter Arum has delivered high praise for the dangerous Usyk, who he has met on previous occasions through his client Vasyl Lomachenko.
“Usyk is a friend of mine because he is Vasyl Lomachenko’s friend,” Arum continued.
“It is against my economic interest, but I will be rooting for him in the fight! I just can’t help myself.
“This is a new era. We have never seen heavyweights of the size that we see now.
“We’ve never seen a guy of 6’9” like Tyson fight the way he does. Or Joshua. They are all huge.
“In ordinary times a guy like Usyk, against a 6’2” heavyweight, has a really good shot.
“But against a massive guy like Joshua? It may be a bridge too far.”
Joshua confirmed his next outing against his latest mandatory challenger Usyk with a tour of the venue Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with tickets set to be on sale for up to £2000 for fans to catch the action live.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has since revealed that he plans to pencil in a date for the undisputed fight with Fury to take place early next year, and has slammed Arum’s recent comments as ‘b*******’ after Arum claimed he wanted to stage the fight in the UK.
Hearn is perhaps fortunate to have a good-working relationship with Joshua, after the Watford heavyweight revealed he turned down a £10 million offer to be promoted by another label before going on to win the world title.
The unified heavyweight champion has also revealed he would be ‘willing to take a knee’ in future world title fights in order to continue to support the fight against racial inequality.
