By William Lloyd: Top Rank president Todd DuBoef says he wants to give the fans the fights they want with Tyson Fury facing Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk, and Dillian Whyte.
DuBoef doesn’t care which order the fights occur in, as long as the unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) gets the opportunity to fight all three.
Fury, 33, is currently in negotiations with interim WBC champion Whyte (28-0, 19 KOs) for a fight that could take place in March. That’s when ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury would like to return to the ring.
DuBoef wants to give the fans what they want
“I would love to see Fury against Joshua, Usyk, and Whyte,” said Todd DuBoef of Top Rank to Sky Sports. “It’s about what the people want to see. Regardless of the order – Fury vs. Joshua is what the people want to see.
Fury is coming off a grueling trilogy match with former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on October 9th and needs a lot of rest before he returns to action against whoever his promoters want him to fight.
It’s still up in the air if Fury will fight Whyte, 34, next because he’s in arbitration with the World Boxing Council, and he wants a significant purse split of 55/45, which is not what Top Rank feels is fair. They want an 80/20.
The fans want to see Fury fight Joshua and Usyk, but he will need to wait until those two meet for their rematch in April. That’s when their second fight is expected to take place.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) lost his IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight titles to Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) last September by a 12 round unanimous decision at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London, England.
Since that fight, there’s been a lot of boxing fans and boxers & their promoters who have questioned whether it’s wise for Joshua to fight a rematch with Usyk due to how he was dominated in that fight.
Even if Joshua does lose to Usyk again, Fury’s promoters at Top Rank will still be interested in putting together a Joshua-Fury fight. It’s just that it might not have as much interest from fans as it once did.
Joshua and Fury will fight at least once
“I think Fury and Joshua will fight at least once because the people want it. Maybe the public will say, ‘We want Fury vs. Usyk.'” said DuBoef.
It would be great if Fury and Joshua could fight soon regardless of the outcome in their next fights. There’s too much fan interest in a battle between Joshua and Fury for the fight not to happen due to one or both losing.
“Joshua says he had an off-night,” continued DuBeof. “He has to establish his dominance as he did against Andy Ruiz Jr. Joshua has to take his career to that elevated state again by erasing his off-night. That is important.