Fresh from watching his superstar heavyweight fall short, Eddie Hearn has had his say on the rumours surrounding an undisputed clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Relatively speaking, it wasn’t too long ago that we were discussing Fury facing Anthony Joshua for all the belts. That, following a second defeat in a row to Usyk, has been swiped off the table for AJ and Matchroom.
Now, all eyes turn to ‘The Gypsy King’. Usyk immediately called out Fury post-fight, saying that if he doesn’t fight him, he is ‘not fighting at all.’ Big words that were met by a demand from the WBC Champion that he would need £500 million to agree.
Speaking to The DAZN Boxing Show, Hearn thinks the fight will happen, but not because of pride or legacy on Fury’s side.
“Tyson Fury doesn’t want to fight Oleksandr Usyk, but he may have to because the money might be so big. And actually, funnily enough, that’s one thing that AJ just said to me on the phone – ‘I was so gutted because I wanted that Fury fight.’”
The promoter, who was at the helm for the championship fight in Saudi last weekend, went on to predict the outcome of the undisputed matchup. He has a winner in mind but is far from certain.
“It’s actually not a very good fight to watch, but it’s an intriguing fight to watch, because I think they’re going to negate each other a lot with movement.”
“I don’t think Fury’s going to be chomping at the bit to fight Usyk. I think he could beat him, but I would favour Oleksandr Usyk in that fight. Just because I think he’s so good. Fury’s good as well, but Usyk is just… They’re both very, very intelligent boxers.”
If the fight happens, Eddie Hearn will be watching as a fan rather than being involved in the business side of things. Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, has indicated that the fight is close to being made, with the not-so-small matters of money and location yet to be agreed.