By Matt Lieberman: In bad news for fans, the April 29th fight between heavyweight champions Tyson Fury & Oleksandr Usyk is heading to Wembley Stadium in London, England, rather than in Saudi Arabia. The deadline for the decision will be this week.
According to the Daily Mail, the Saudis won’t have the Jeddah Stadium completed by April 29th. Of course, there’s got to be other venues to stage the fight in Saudi Arabia.
If Usyk fails to agree to the deal offered to him to fight at Wembley Stadium, a challenger will be chosen by Fury to defend against. It’s unknown if this will be a defense of his WBC title or if it’ll be an exhibition match against Francis Ngannou.
Joseph Parker, a good friend of Fury’s, is an obvious choice for him to defend against on April 29th if his promoters cannot negotiate a deal with Usyk. Parker is coming off a lackluster win over former cruiserweight Jack Massey on January 21st. However, it doesn’t matter that Parker looked poor. He’s a friend of Fury, and it’s an easy fight to make.
Usyk had already made a deal with the Saudis to fight there, but with Fury’s team moving the match to Wembley, he’s rumored to make less money.
The deal works for Fury because he can make good money, given that he’d be the A-side in London being the draw, but it won’t be the case for Usyk unless Fury’s management makes it worthwhile for him to fight there. It’s questionable whether that’ll happen.
Fury WON’T fight Joe Joyce on April 29th
Here’s the thing. Even if Usyk chooses not to agree to the deal, Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) will still fight on the April 29th date at Wembley Stadium. Fury’s promoters have reportedly already booked the stadium. Ideally, Fury would use Joe Joyce as his plan B option, but that’s not going to happen because ‘The Juggernaut is fighting Zhilei Zhang on April 15th and won’t be available to fight on April 29th.
With Joyce not an option, Francis Ngannou could be Fury’s opponent on April 29th. The former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou is already training, and he’s made it clear that he wants Fury next in his first fight in boxing.
If the WBC chooses not to sanction the fight as a title defense for Fury, it’s not a big issue because it would be an exhibition match, but it’s unlikely the sanctioning body will stand in the way of Tyson using this as a defense.
The deadline is this week on Fury-Usyk
“Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are now set to face off at WEMBLEY as Saudi bidders are unable to confirm if construction of the Jeddah stadium,” said Jeff Powell to the Daily Mail.
“The Gypsy King’s preference for the venue has ALWAYS been Wembley, for his British fans even though richer mega-millions purses for both fighters are on offer in the Saudi Kingdom.
“D for Decision Day is said to be this week, and Wembley has already been booked by Fury’s Queensberry promoters. “If an agreement with Usyk cannot be reached, Fury would be likely to fight there on April 29 against a designated challenger.”
For it not to take place there, some feel that it’s Fury being the obstacle to getting the fight with Usyk made. If the Usyk fight doesn’t happen because of Fury, it would be the second huge match-up the big 6’9″ heavyweight has wrecked.
Fury set strange deadlines and spoiled any chances of the Joshua fight happening. Interestingly, Fury didn’t set the same deadlines for his good friend, 39-year-old journeyman Derek Chisora, who wound up fighting instead on December 3rd in London.
If the fans just want to see Fury fight at home, they’ll be pleased, but if they were hoping to see him face Usyk for the undisputed, they’ll be disappointed because the chances of the contest taking place are slim.