Promoter Bob Arum revealed that he’s interested in the possibility of Anthony Joshua fighting Tyson Fury this year if the Gyspy King defeats IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on May 18th in Saudi Arabia.
Fury’s Close Relationship with Saudi Leadership
Arum says that if the Saudis make it “worthwhile for Usyk to step aside, a fight between Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) could happen this year, perhaps at the 90,000+ seat Wembley Stadium in London, England.
That might be a little too much to hope for. Fury has already said he’s NOT interested in fighting Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) between his fight with Usyk, assuming he wins the May 18th fight. Tyson’s priority is two back-to-back fights against Usyk.
Fury and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh are really close. Fury is the one who decides who he wants to fight, and he’s already said that he wants to fight Usyk twice before Joshua gets his turn.
Again, that’s if Fury even beats Usyk because he might lose both fights and be utterly worthless for Joshua to fight unless it’s a match they’re doing for old times’ sake to please the British fans who always wanted to see the two. If you’re Joshua, you’d prefer to fight Usyk than Fury if he’s coming off consecutive wins against the Gyspy King.
Arum’s Vision for a UK Mega-Fight
“There’s always a chance when there’s one entity putting up the money, as in this case the sovereign fund, the entertainment division in Saudi Arabia, they can have a tremendous influence on the fighters, and maybe if Fury is successful they can make it worthwhile for Usyk to step aside to allow a Joshua fight to happen this year,” promoter Bob Arum said to Sky Sports about his hopes that Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua mega-fight can happen this year.
Fury seems to be close enough to His Excellency Turki Alalshikh to allow him to pick and choose who he wants to fight, and he’ll be paid handsomely no matter who it is. If Fury has a fit if Alalshikh politely suggests that he fight Joshua in between the two Usyk fights, he’ll likely cave in and let him take the second match against the Ukrainian talent rather than take the risky one against AJ.
Fury’s Billion-Dollar Ambition
Tyson said yesterday that he believes he’s on course to become boxing’s first billionaire. He was talking about signing a 10-fight contract with the Saudis to make that happen.
If Fury is going to last another ten fights to get the billion he’s talking about, he’ll need to be matched softly and kept away from ferocious punchers like Joshua. That’s why it’s good that Fury is in thick with Alalshikh. He can protect him long enough to collect all that money.