Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are poised to do battle in a blockbuster title clash early next year – but Qatar has now thrown its hat in the ring to host the unification fight. Fury’s attention immediately turned to new rival Usyk as he confronted the undefeated Ukrainian after his predictably one-sided WBC title defence against forlorn veteran Derek Chisora.
The Gyspy King inflicted a brutal beating to end his dominant trilogy with Chisora, as ‘Del Boy’ finally escaped further punishment with the non-contest waved in the 10th round at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Fury is now planning for a more active 2023 after two comfortable outings this year, where he has cruised to stoppage victories over heavyweight rivals Chisora and Dillian Whyte. And Usyk, who was ringside in North London last weekend and holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles, has been earmarked as the 34-year-old’s next opponent for a genuine super fight.
Usyk’s team have already been in negotiations with Queensbury promotions to finalise the details of the huge clash with Fury early in 2023. And Usyk’s manager Egis Klimas has provided more optimism by telling talkSPORT that a highly-anticipated fight is close to being made.
Usyk has gained a fanbase in Saudi Arabia after dominating former champion Anthony Joshua in Jeddah in August. And the neighbouring Gulf state Qatar – also mired with issues surrounding human rights abuses and the maligned hosts of this winter’s controversial FIFA World Cup – have now emerged as contenders to put on the fight.
“Most likely it is going to be no later than March 4 and most likely it will end up in the Middle East,” Klimas added. “But during today’s conversation I heard other options are coming like maybe London, Qatar. But, most likely we are aiming for Saudi (Arabia) because they are very interested in that fight, Saudi (Arabia) loves Usyk.”