By William Lloyd: Tyson Fury’s promoter Frank Warren says they’re working on a step aside deal for Anthony Joshua to step aside so that WBC heavyweight champion Tyson can face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship.
Warren states that they’re hopeful that they can get a deal done for Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) to step aside so that Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) and Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) can meet next.
If no deal can be made for Joshua to step aside, Fury will be fighting in March in the UK against an opponent that Tyson agrees on. That will be the Plan-B option for Team Fury if their Plan-A of getting Joshua to step aside fails to work.
Joshua said last week that he would potentially step aside for the right money. It’s unclear how much money Joshua will be looking for.
The conventional wisdom is that if Joshua is genuinely willing to step aside, he won’t ask for too high of a figure, knowing it would be rejected. If Joshua is open to moving out of the way, Team Fury can likely reach a deal.
“Everyone wants to see him [Tyson Fury] and Usyk,” said promoter Frank Warren to iFL TV. “AJ, I seen his interview last week, which is a little bit confusing. If you listen to it and what he’s saying, he’s basically saying, ‘If I get the right money, I’ll step aside.’
“So that’s really where we got to get to as a team. That’s the Tyson Fury team, and we’re all working hard to make that happen, and it may just happen,” said Warren about Joshua possibly stepping aside.
“If it does, Tyson will meet him, and the four belts will be on the line, and I hope that’s going to be the case.
“If it doesn’t for any reason, we’ve got to move to Plan-B, and Plan-B would be to fight here in the UK in March with an opponent that Tyson feels comfortable with,” said Warren.
Many boxing fans want to know how WBC interim heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte’s arbitration case will pan out. The WBC will likely order Fury to face him next if it goes in his favor.
The purse split is essential for that fight, as Whyte and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, will want to get the best split possible. 55-45 is a possibility for Whyte, but whether that would be a number that
Team Fury agrees to is unknown. If it’s too high, Fury might be better off vacating his WBC title and calling himself the ‘Lineal champion’ as he’d done briefly in the past.
“The Fury team are obviously having conversations, and that’s something we’ll see,” said Warren about Joshua. “But that has to have a limit of time where it’s either going to happen, or it’s not.
“I don’t think anybody is going to be waiting around too long for that. I’m quite positive that there’s a will between everybody to get it done. So fingers crossed that’ll be the case,” said Warren about a step aside deal for Joshua.