Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, has explained the thinking behind choosing a host for a historic undisputed fight with Tyson Fury.
Ever since Usyk beat Anthony Joshua for the second time, his focus has been on becoming undisputed in the division. To do that, he must go through the other champion – Tyson Fury.
Fury had a winter warm up fight in the shape of Derek Chisora, and, now that that’s over, there seems to be nothing in the way of making a bout for all the belts.
Krassyuk spoke to SecondsOut, letting fans into the negotiations.
“A fight like that is the biggest fight in boxing. So we can announce it, let’s say, today or tomorrow. We have a basic option to make it happen in Wembley or Cardiff or any other place in the UK.
But as long as we are working for our men, who are the best heavyweights in the world, we have to bring them the biggest and most benefit. So we are not working on that. We are now working on the site. We are in negotiations with three countries in the Middle East, and we still have the basic option of Great Britain.
So, the worst scenario, it goes to Wembley or any other big stadium. Any other scenario is that it takes place in the Middle East. The deadline that we agreed together is the 4th of March.”
The March 4 date is important to Usyk as Ramadan starts later that month, and the champion has previously said that that would impact his training.
As for the site, it’s long been clear that all involved were angling for a Middle Eastern payday, and it’s hard at this point to see the fight landing in the UK, even despite Krassyuk’s courteous mentions.
Still, the headline – and the positive news – is that things are all pointing in the direction of a fight announcement soon, and the heavyweight division crowning an undisputed champion.