Derek Chisora has offered an alternative perspective to a fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk not going ahead in Saudi Arabia as was rumoured.
Throughout talks for Fury to face Usyk in a four-belt undisputed contest, the Middle East has been a location front runner because of the big purses the country can offer the fighters.
Recently, though, England’s Wembley has emerged as favourite to play host, with Saudi apparently off the table.
The reported reason for looking closer to home was that a stadium to host the legacy-defining heavyweight scrap wouldn’t be constructed in time.
Chisora – who recently announced he was working for Prince Khalid and a sports and entertainment agency in the Kingdom to promote boxing events – believes otherwise.
Asked by iFL TV if he knew anything about the situation from behind the scenes in Saudi, Chisora said he did.
“Yeah. Go get the money in Wembley. Let’s see if you can get it … When people wanna be greedy, that’s it. My boss said no.”
Chisora knows Wembley and Fury all to well. The pair fought for a third time in their careers there in December of 2022, with Fury winning every round at a canter before the referee stopped proceedings in the tenth.
Greed or otherwise, British fans will be delighted at the prospect of one of their own being crowned undisputed heavyweight champion on home soil, but the fight is still yet to be signed. And then, of course, he’ll have to beat the undefeated Ukrainian who’s fresh off two victories over Anthony Joshua.
Talks are ongoing, with Usyk’s promoter in town last week in an attempt to finalise things. It’s understood that these prolonged talks have a focus on the finances, with the purses of the oil-rich Saudi no longer there.