By Matt Lieberman: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says they’re trying to work a deal for Anthony Joshua to step aside so that WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury can face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship in March in Saudi Arabia.
Conversations have already begun to get former champion, Joshua, to step aside so that the Fury vs. Usyk contest can take place in March in Saudi. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that talks have started for a potential step aside deal on Friday.
Arum states that if Joshua chooses not to step aside, Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) will defend against his mandatory Dillian Whyte in Manchester, England.
Fury vs. Usyk is in the works for Saudi Arabia
“Anthony Joshua lost to Oleksandr Usyk, who now has some of the belts and we’re trying to get, there’s a rematch clause, for Joshua to step aside so that Tyson can fight Usyk for all four belts. That would be a unified title,” said Arum to The Rich Eison show.
“We’re talking about doing it [Fury vs. Usyk] in Saudi Arabia, which wants to stage that fight in March. Hopefully, it’ll all come together.
“If it doesn’t, and Joshua insists on the rematch with Usyk, then Fury will fight Dillian Whyte, which is the #1 contender [with the WBC].
“We’ll do that fight as sort of a homecoming for Tyson in an arena in Manchester where he comes from,” Arum said of Fury’s Plan-B if the Usyk fight fails to happen.
Joshua could be a problem if he refuses to step aside, as he’s hell-bent on taking the rematch with Usyk to avenge his humiliating 12 round unanimous decision loss on September 25th at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, England.
Although Joshua has been repeatedly advised by boxing fans NOT to take the immediate rematch with Usyk, he’s still determined to take the fight at all costs.
It was only recently that Joshua began entertaining the idea of potentially stepping aside so that Fury and Usyk could fight for the undisputed championship.
Arum says Fury beats Muhammad Ali
The Top Rank boss Arum believes the 6’9″ Fury would have been too much for a prime Muhammad Ali, who was a lot smaller at 6’2, 205 lbs during the zenith of his career as a heavyweight in the early 1960s.
Later, after Ali returned to the ring after being barred briefly due to him choosing not to be drafted, he was slower and not the same fighter he’d been in the 1970s.
“Fury wins,” said Arum when asked who would win in a fight between boxing great Muhammad Ali and Tyson Fury. “No heavyweight before or since could beat Fury. Fury is so incredible.
“Guys who were 6’9” were bums when Ali was fighting because they couldn’t move, and there were all these flaws. But here’s a guy in Fury that takes an incredible punch and moves like a welterweight and has a pretty good punch himself and knows how to box.
“We haven’t seen that combination ever. I feel sorry for [Deontay] Wilder, who’s a terrific fighter because he came in an era that gave us Tyson Fury. Remember, it’s not a fluke because Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko when Klitschko was riding high, and nobody gave Fury a chance.
“Fury is the goods because he can box, he can punch, and he keeps on getting better,” said Arum.
