British boxing fans could end up seeing Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s historic undisputed title fight on British shores after all. The four-belt shoot-out is reportedly now more likely to take place in England rather than Saudi Arabia.
This is according to esteemed boxing insider Mike Coppinger, who also claims that there is “a long way to go” in the process of trying to agree a deal which financially satisfies both men. Two weeks ago, Coppinger reported that Usyk had “closed his side of the deal” with the Saudis but Fury hadn’t.
Whether this contributed to the change of location is yet to be confirmed. Promoters had hoped to follow the money and stage the fight in the Middle East with London’s Wembley Stadium pencilled in as the backup location if the fight couldn’t be made overseas.
Earlier this month, Fury’s US promoter, Bob Arum, was optimistic of getting the deal over the line in Saudi Arabia. “I’m very optimistic the fight is going to happen,” Arum told Sky Sports News. “Both fighters have agreed to do the fight, the question is the site and we’re talking to the Middle East because allegedly they’re going to come up with the biggest purse ever in boxing history.
“So that’s the only issue – where will the fight be held? I would believe in the next week that will be determined and then we’ll have an official announcement of the date and site for the fight – but that fight is happening.”
The title fight is currently being targeted for April 29 but was originally expected to take place on March 4. Further delays could be in order if they can’t finalise the paperwork quickly with enough time needed to promote the fight properly.
Usyk, a devout orthodox Christian, had originally set Fury a deadline of March 4 to avoid training in the run-up to Easter which lands on April 16 this year.