By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury has lost his senses, asking for $500 million and setting a deadline of one week for the loot to be offered to him for the undisputed clash against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
I hate to say it, but Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) appears to be intentionally pricing himself out of the risky fight against the talented Usyk by asking for an obscene amount of money that he has no chance of ever getting in this lifetime.
The only way Fury would get even a small fraction of that green is if the Saudis stepped in and were willing to stage the fight in their country. That’s not happening thus far, and I don’t think it will because it’s a boring fight on paper.
The basic problem is that Fury isn’t as popular as Anthony Joshua, and there’s not nearly the same amount of buzz for a fight between him and IBF, WBA & WBO champion Usyk as there was when AJ recently fought the Ukrainian master boxer.
“This fight is purely about money. I’ve got plenty of money. It needs to be the biggest payday in the world. Floyd Mayweather got $400million for Manny Pacquiao. I want $500 million for Usyk,” said Tyson Fury to talkSPORT.
Well, the way I see it, Fury, 34, will be lucky if he gets $40 million for a fight against Usyk, as it’s not a fight that resonates in the same way as when Joshua fought him in a revenge match last weekend.
With Joshua, there was a ton of interest from the boxing world to see if he could redeem himself after his humiliating loss last September. It was essentially a fight with Joshua’s career on the line, which is likely the reason the Saudis were willing to pay huge money to stage the fight in Jeddah.
“To fight this unknown entity and give him an opportunity of legendary status? They have to pay for that,” said Fury.
“They have a week. It’s August 24. They have a week to submit their offers.”
I hope Fury doesn’t hold his breath waiting for the money to be offered to him because there’s no chance on earth that he’s getting $500 million or anything close.
“I want it in writing with proof of funds. This fight is purely about money. I’m happily retired. I don’t need money; I’ve got plenty of money,” said Fury.
