Tyson Fury in talks to fight Oleksandr Usyk with both Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte stepping aside, claims Arum
US BOXING promoter Bob Arum has claimed Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are in talks over an undisputed heavyweight clash in the Middle East.
That would involve both Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte stepping aside for a bout to go ahead.
Joshua has exercised his rematch clause with Usyk after being outpointed by the Ukrainian in September, while Fury is set to take on Whyte.
But according to Arum, both of those fights could be scrapped in favour of an undisputed bout, as reported by talkSPORT.
However, Arum has hinted that there is no guarantee that an undisputed clash for the ages between the two undefeated fighters will go ahead, with talks currently in ‘total chaos’.
Lennox Lewis was the last undisputed heavyweight world champion, all the way back in 1999.
But Arum warned: “It is total chaos. What’s happening is just promises coming out of the Middle East about doing a unified fight with Usyk and Fury, and is Dillian Whyte gonna step aside.
“And people that have absolutely no contractual ties – like Frank Warren’s Queensberry and our Top Rank do – are getting involved.
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“It’s a typical terrible kind of situation, but hopefully it’ll get sorted out and probably it will get sorted out with a purse bid on Friday.”
Arum was then asked who out of Usyk or Whyte he believes will be Fury’s next opponent.
To which he replied: “I have absolutely no idea. Who are these people in the Middle East? And what’s their backing and all of that stuff? That’s not clear.
“All I know is that the contract with Tyson Fury is with Frank Warren’s Queensberry and Top Rank.
“Nobody has talked to us about buying out rights or getting our permission to go ahead.”
Both Joshua and Eddie Hearn have previously confirmed that AJ will NOT step aside, with the Watford-born fighter still planning to fight Usyk in the spring.
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Elsewhere the purse bids for Fury vs Whyte have been delayed again in another setback to the all-British clash.
It’s the second time purse bods have been pushed back, with the delay making a March bout ‘unrealistic’, according to Hearn.
But other reports claim a date for that fight has in fact already been set for March.
World Boxing News claim that Frank Warren has booked the Principality Stadium in Cardiff for March 26, according to Arum.
Fury is targeting a UK homecoming after his last five fights have taken place Stateside.
But Arum’s latest comments suggest the Gypsy King could once again take to the ring on foreign soil.