By Craig Daly: Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is running out of time for the two sides to get their April 29th fight signed for their management to begin the marketing of the fight, be it in London or Saudi Arabia.
The only thing that is reportedly left for the two sides to agree to is the site of the fight. IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight champion Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) has reportedly already agreed to his deal with the Saudis, while Fury is said to be the one that is holding things up.
The problem is, if the negotiations drag out too long, the date for the fight will need to be moved yet again to May, June, or July, depending on how much longer Fury’s side haggles with the Saudis over their side of the deal.
If the Fury chooses not to make a deal, the fight could take place in London at Wembley Stadium. That creates another problem because the deal might not be as good for Usyk if the fight is brought to the UK. While it would be great for Fury, it wouldn’t necessarily be for Usyk.
Boxing fans will need to make travel & hotel arrangements if the Fury-Usyk fight is going to take place in the Middle East, and it’s not going to work if the negotiations are dragged out until March or April before the two sides finally agree.
Fury – Usyk running out of time
“They’re hoping they can make this fight official and make this fight on April 29th. My understanding from the Usyk side, they’ve agreed to everything and signed off. There’s no issues from my understanding on the Usyk side,” said Dan Rafael to iFL TV about the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk negotiations.
“That’s not to say that there’s no huge issues on the Fury side, but they’re still unaware of where this fight is going to take place. Obviously, if this fight is going to take place in Wembley, there’s going to be one amount of money that is generated by the gate.
“But if they wind up in a place in the Middle East, for example, they’ll probably be greater money that will change the structure from the business side of things because the money is going to be so much more increased.
“The main thing is, and this isn’t specific to either boxer, is the two sides have to get the site settled. You can’t have a boxing match if you don’t have a place to put the ring. I don’t know when they have the cut-off date or when the deadline is when they should have that done.
“If you’re looking at an event at the end of April, particularly of that magnitude of the undisputed heavyweight championship, there’s still some time to go, but it’s getting closer, and you want to get this situated.
“You want to allow fans, particularly if the fights are going to take place in the Middle East, you want to allow enough time for everybody is thinking about traveling to make their arrangements, whether it’s a hotel or airfare,” said Rafael.
Deadlines for rollout
“Certainly, for the teams for whatever sort of rollout you’re going to do, whether it’s going to be press conferences, zoom calls, your marketing,” Rafael said. “There are things that come up against deadlines. Again, they have time, but times a moving. They’ve got to get on it.
“I’m assuming they’re going to have some kind of real notice or real about this. It’s got to be in the next couple of weeks roughly. That’s where they’re at. I’m still hoping the fight is going to happen. I’ve wondered myself, what the heck is going on because when the fight was first brought up, everybody was like, ‘We’re gung ho. We’re doing this fight, and both sides can agree. We’re going to split the money. It’s not a big deal in terms of how we’re cutting it up.’
“Everybody knows in terms of Usyk’s camp and Top Rank’s side, they all have a good relationship between Bob Arum and Egis Klimas, the manager. Everybody wants to see the fight. Everyone already knows the sanctioning bodies are not in any way going to be a problem in terms of the sanctioning it, so all four belts are at stake.
“So all the things that need to happen to get a big super fight on are basically in line. They just got to get the site situated, which is very significant, but they still have to do it,” said Rafael.
