By Jake Tiernan: Promoter Frank Warren reportedly will b having a meeting with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman this week, and he expects Tyson Fury’s next mandatory to be determined.
As such, WBC heavyweight champion Fury’s mandatory will be selected from this group from the sanctioning bodies’ rankings:
#1 Deontay Wilder
#2 Andy Ruiz
#3 Anthony Joshua
#4 Frank Sanchez
Obviously, it’s NOT going to happen if the World Boxing Council selects Deontay or Joshua as Fury’s mandatory challenger because neither is going to take a fight with him now.
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) and Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) are fighting in December in Saudi, and they’re not going to waste their time fighting – or attempting to fight – Fury in the summer. Hopefully, the WBC understands this when determining who Fury’s next mandatory is.
#2 WBC Ruiz reportedly wanted $20 million to fight Fury recently, and it’s likely he won’t be agreeable to facing him in the summer if the numbers aren’t near his asking price. Additionally, it appears that Ruiz has a lot going on in his domestic life right now that is occupying his time.
#4 Frank Sanchez would gladly take a fight with Fury, but that’s one that likely won’t bring the ‘Gypsy King’ the big money that he’s hoping to get for a summer fight.
The Cuban Sanchez (22-0, 15 KOs) isn’t well known in the UK, so Fury might have a difficult time selling out Wembley Stadium against this fighter.
Further, Sanchez has a slick fighting style along the lines of Oleksandr Usyk, and he’s not a stumblebum like Fury’s recent opponents that he can lean on and maul his way to victory.
Sanchez is smart and won’t let Fury grab him, and if he does, he’ll punish him in the clinch. Suffice it to say, Sanchez is all wrong for Fury, and it’ll be surprising if he willingly agrees to fight him if the WBC makes him mandatory.
Frank Warren has stated that he's set to have a meeting with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman in the coming days and expects him to set a mandatory for Tyson Fury's next fight. Current rankings are: #1 Deontay Wilder, #2 Andy Ruiz, #3 Anthony Joshua, #4 Frank Sanchez. [@talkSPORT]
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) June 4, 2023
Fury NOT guaranteed Usyk for December
“I can’t speak on any numbers because there have been no numbers; no numbers have been discussed for this recent promotion,” said Amer Abdullah of Skills Challenge Promotion to Boxing King Media when asked if it’s true that Tyson Fury wanted $120 million to fight Oleksandr Usyk last year.
“I’ll be very clear about that. No numbers have been offered on our end. No numbers have been demanded on the other end for this
fight. What happened before, what happened previously, you know, that’s history. Moving forward, there are no numbers on the table.
“Again, we’re going to look at the landscape. If we do a deal for December and these guys end up fighting whoever they fight, and it
doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t make sense for anybody,” said Abdullah when asked why Fury hasn’t been offered a deal yet for the December fight in Saudi Arabia.
“We’re going to see how this landscape sets, and we’ll make the offer. The offer will be a very good offer. It’ll be as Prince Khalid does it. Big, bold, real, and whoever is going to come to the table is going to be the offer. It’ll be a take-it-or-leave-it deal, and if not, we have other options.
“Look, as a fighter myself, I know what it’s like to wait, and I know
what it’s like not to have a schedule and especially these guys at this
caliber and at this elite level; these guys are champions. They need to be active.
“To tell a fighter from April or from February, ‘We have a fight in December, so just sit on the sideline and wait.’ It’s a very difficult ask to make of a fighter, and arguably so.
“They want to be having touch-ups. The question is what kind of a touch-up are you going to take along that way that’s not going to jeopardize a massive fight in December, and that’s something that them and their teams will have to decide.
“Tyson Fury has a lot of options out there, and he has a great team in
George and Frank that will, I’m sure, advise him and try to set things up for him. AJ’s got a great team, and Frank and Eddie to be able to and Freddie to be able to put something together for him and get him to December and, of course, AJ with Al and Shelly and now you know with Usyk.
“We just have to make sure these guys get to December, and whatever they’re going to do, let’s get through it. Hopefully, they come out, like I said, healthy unscathed, victorious, and we’ll talk about December,” said Abdullah.
