Bob Arum has provided a positive update on the heavyweight undisputed fight between the division’s two champions – Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.
But although the hall-of-fame promoter’s latest statement gives real hope that the fight will be delivered as promised, it also presents a scenario where further negotiation is required.
Arum told Boxing Scene that should an offer come through from Saudi Arabia, that’s where the fight will be staged. However, if that interest from the kingdom falls through then the promoters will look at bringing Fury back to Wembley Stadium.
“Everybody agreed that if [Saudi Arabia’s] offer comes through and it’s real, that’s how we’ll go. If not, we’ll do the fight at Wembley.”
“The fighters have agreed to fight. I spoke to Frank Warren. We’re giving them until [this] week to come with their offer, which I believe we’ll get. If we don’t, then we’re gonna do the fight at Wembley.”
Whilst the prospect of a UK stadium fight for something as illustrious as the undisputed title is a result for fans, Arum says that the purse split would then have to be skewed in Fury’s favour.
“And then we’d have to talk about the percentages because Usyk wants 50-50. That’s not right if the fight’s at Wembley because there will be 95,000 Brits at the fight and big Brit pay-per-view money, so Tyson deserves the lion’s share.
“But we don’t get to that point if the [investors in Saudi Arabia] come through, because the way they operate is they make deals with each of the fighters. We’ve been led to believe that they’re going to come with a proposal [this] week. I’ll believe it when I see it, but it’s not like they haven’t come through in the past.”
Usyk is bringing three belts to the table as opposed to Fury’s one title, and has spent a career on the road competing as the away fighter. How his team will respond to a lesser cut, then, is unclear.
As Arum says, though, things may not come to that. Saudi have long been interested in staging the first heavyweight undisputed fight in decades, and if their offer comes good then a split down the middle could keep everybody happy.