Matchroom promoter, Eddie Hearn, has stated that the proposed undisputed title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is not big enough to earn the amount of money that Fury and his team expected from Saudi Arabia.
The teams of Fury and Usyk have been engaged in prolonged talks for their historic bout for months now, and after Usyk had agreed terms for a battle in the Middle East, it appeared that an announcement for the fight was imminent.
However, Fury’s US promoter, Bob Arum, has now said that the timeline they have set out wasn’t doable for Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with iFL TV, Eddie Hearn instead suggested that although the fight will crown a first undisputed heavyweight champion in over twenty years, the star power of both fighters is simply not enough to match the financial ambitions of Tyson Fury.
The promoter believes that Anthony Joshua is of the level of superstardom that would merit such figures, especially if he was up against ‘The Gypsy King’ – a fight which he’s still keen on.
“If the fight isn’t happening in Saudi Arabia it is because Anthony Joshua isn’t in it. The fight is not big enough. The fight is not big enough for the money that Tyson Fury wants, because it does not involve Anthony Joshua.
Maybe he [Joshua] is the only guy that can command that kind of money, but hopefully we can make Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua and then Tyson will get the numbers that he wants.”
As Fury-Usyk looks set to take place in London, fans will be delighted, even if the fighters’ pockets are lighter.
However, this will provide Tyson Fury with the home advantage as he looks to make history and become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.