By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury could get $90 million for his fight against Oleksandr Usyk in December in Saudi Arabia, according to Gareth A. Davies.
That would be far from the $120 million that Fury reportedly asked for the Saudis in his previous failed negotiations with IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk.
Still, $90M is a massive amount of money for a fighter like Woolly Mammoth-like Fury to receive, as his fighting style is rather hard on the eyes, involving mostly leaning, wrestling, and clubbing punches to the back of the head.
In contrast, Usyk could be getting $50 million, and Anthony Joshua & Deontay Wilder both receiving $40 each, Davies says.
If the Saudis are willing to indulge Fury by giving him the lion’s share of the loot for the December card, they could inadvertently create an impossible-to-deal-with spoiled brat.
Giving Fury that kind of dough will plant ideas into his head, making him believe he’s worth that much for every fight. When he fails to get it, he could throw a tantrum and lash out at the promoters for not giving in to his purse demands.
More than likely, this will lead to long stretches of inactivity for Fury, as he’ll sit inactive, waiting to receive similar money, which will only happen if he’s fighting Joshua or possibly Deontay if he emerges victorious against AJ in December.
When Fury fights regular contenders, the only way he’ll get the money he wants is if he fights one of the poor saps that don’t deserve a title shot in the first place. In other words, some no-talent scrub.
Fury could get $90 million for Usyk fight
“If it goes to plan, it’s going to be amazing. Of course, it is. If they’ve got that ambition, and they can do it, and they’ve got, I’d say, 250 million U.S dollars to throw at it; something in the region of that,” said Gareth A. Davies to iFL TV about the monstrous Saudi card in December, with Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk.
“If you’ve got all those guys in the ring for, say, 40 million each U.S dollars for for Wilder and Joshua, say 80 million. There are figures being thrown about that Fury wants 120 million U.S. dollars to fight in Saudi.
“I doubt whether he’ll get that much. I bet it’ll probably be a little bit more than half of that. Maybe 70-80 million, maybe 90. It’s extraordinary. Usyk 50 million; he’s on a multi-fight deal with them [Skills Challenge Promotion] now. They’ve won that first bid for Poland.
“Obviously, Skills Challenge are going to get behind that fight in Poland. It’s huge. If they can do it, it will be extraordinary, and it will be
something to celebrate, but you’ve got to get all these people around the table and all the ego satisfied, and all the bank balance is satisfied.
“If they can do it, amazing. They’ve got the money. They’ve got the ambition. I’m skeptical until it’s confirmed, but it’s a brilliant thing to try for.
“Fury wants the biggest fights; they’re talking Fury’s side, and you can’t disagree with them. You can see their point. Fury wants the biggest fights. That’s what he’s asked them for. Anthony Joshua is one of the biggest fights. Oleksandr Usyk is one of the biggest fights.
“Those are the two biggest fights, basically, aren’t they? Those are the biggest fights for Tyson Fury. Those are the only fights he needs to leave the division with the legacy as the number one of this era, and we won’t see the undisputed title we want to see him in with Joshua.
“I hope both fights get made, but I’ll go back to the three-prong thing that I talked about. Ego, timing, and money – it’s all involved here. They can hate me or love me for the things I say. It doesn’t make any difference. Believe what you know, not what you see in boxing,” said Gareth.
The big money is a curse
“I completely get that they are in a bit of a situational look. It doesn’t matter about the echo chamber of social media and fans moaning at Tyson Fury because he fought Chisora last year, and he hasn’t had a big fight this year yet, and the fact Usyk pulled out of that fight with Fury,” said Gareth.
“As much as Fury people are saying Fury pulled out of the fight on April the 29th. Yes, the terms probably weren’t the greatest for you, Usyk, at the time, but he was eyeing this deal that’s just come out [from Skills Challenge Promotions], the reason we’re talking today.
“He was eyeing this deal with the Saudis. Good luck to him. He’s got Poland, where all his homelanders will be supporting him because they’re across the border because of the terrible things that are going on in Ukraine at the moment.
“It’s not satisfactory in the heavyweight division right now. We want
to see all these guys fight each other. We’re starting to see it in the other divisions. We’ve just reached, as I said, George Warren said it, ‘A blessing and a curse.’
“It is. It’s a blessing for all these guys to earn such extraordinary money. The gravy train for everyone involved, but it’s a curse because they’re looking at that end goal, that fights later in the year that’s worth so much money that they just can’t get anywhere else, and you can’t blame them either.
“They are looking for a fight for Tyson Fury in early September, and as Frank explained last night. They’re going to look at the mandatory situation for the WBC, and then we probably will get the Usyk fight late in December. Usyk obviously has got to beat Daniel Dubois as well.
Frank Sanchez = option for Fury in September
“Yeah, but they’re not going to get that fight, are they? because they’re looking to make Joshua and Wilder,” said Gareth when told that Fury’s promoter Frank Warren wants to go the WBC mandatory route for his September fight, and Deontay Wilder is ranked #1.
“Clearly, the Saudis have been talking to Deontay Wilder and his team. Clearly, they’ve been talking to Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua, and he wants that fight with Wilder. That seems to be the fight that he’s going to decide his future on in many ways.
“Andy Ruiz is number two, but I know he’s been having some personal
issues, so he might [not do it]. I don’t think it’s anything to do with that. I think I’ve spoken to both George Warren and Frank Warren about this. Andy Ruiz simply wanted too much money they had talks, and he wanted in the region, I think, 19 to 20 million U.S dollars.
“If they get a mandatory, which Frank’s gonna meet Mauricio Suleiman about, obviously if that gets ordered, then Ruiz is just going to have to take the [WBC mandatory] challenger split. So that could be an option because I know he’s got personal issues at the moment.
“Number three is actually Anthony Joshua, but you know he’s got other plans. Number four is Frank Sanchez. Yeah, probably it’s going to be Frank Sanchez. It could be Frank Sanchez. That’s fine. No issue with that. I hope they do get Frank Sanchez. They’re not going to get Anthony Joshua,” said Gareth.
