Tyson Fury facing Oleksandr Usyk is a legacy fight which simply must be made according to all involved, as well as fans across the world.
It’s good news then that things behind the scenes seem to be progressing well – at least according to Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren.
Warren gave an update to TalkSPORT on where might play host – strongly assumed to be somewhere in the Middle East given the money on offer.
“Nothing’s in place from anywhere outside the UK. We know what it can generate in the UK, but if it goes elsewhere then that depends on what the numbers are. I know a lot of people complain about it and I agree it should be at Wembley, I’d love to see it there.
But Muhammad Ali and George Foreman went and fought in Zaire, then you had the the Thrilla in Manila, you had the big fights in Jamaica. They went where the money was and these guys will do the same thing.”
The hall-of-fame promoter then revealed an initial contract has been sent to Team Usyk, and that he was expecting something back soon.
He went on to single out March for the timescale, supporting previous statements from Usyk’s management that they would like to aim for no later than March 4.
“We’ve sent them a draft contract, that’s where we’re at. Listen, it’s gotta be sorted out very, very quickly now because the time is against us.”
“I want to get the fight on in March and so will Tyson. We just want to get it on in March and that’ll set them up for another big fight in the autumn.”
Whilst he didn’t explicitly say what the fight in autumn would be, fans can assume that there will be a rematch clause for both fighters.
It’s unlikely that the governing bodies would allow a full year without mandatories fulfilled, so if there is a second fight it may not be for the undisputed crown – rather the winner would be stripped of at least one belt and it be made vacant.
Anything can happen in boxing, and fans know all too well that sending a contract means little at this stage. However, with no obvious road blocks, it seems the heavyweight division will soon have its first undisputed champion in two decades.