Legendary promoter Bob Arum is reporting that the mega-heavyweight unification fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua is NOT happening for July or August.
Speaking to the Telegraph Sport, Arum says the Saudi site deep, which was believed to be in the neighborhood of $150 million, will take more time before it’s completed.
For now, the undisputed heavyweight contest between IBF/WBA/WBO champion Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) and WBO champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) is “dead in the water” for the summer.
Arum isn’t saying who he plans on matching Fury against for his next fight, but two logical suspects are these excellent heavyweights:
- Deontay Wilder
- Andy Ruiz Jr
Fury needs to take on one of those two heavyweights, and get a good win under his belt before he looks in the direction of a mega-fight against Joshua.
Did the mediation go badly for Fury?
Arum flew up to Napa, California on Tuesday to meet with the mediator for the Fury-Wilder mediation.
While Arum isn’t saying what he learned in the meeting, it seems like more than a cooincidence that he’s suddenly saying that the Joshua-Fury fight is “dead in the water” for the summer.
If the mediator has chosen to rule aganist Fury, it would cost him a lot of money if he chooses to not give Wilder his contractual rematch.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is still hoping to complete the Saudi deal in time to make the fight, but there won’t be much he can do about it with Arum choosing to take Fury in a different direction.
In looking at the video today of Fury working out, it’s important that he gets a tune-up fight ahead of the Joshua fight.
Fury hasn’t fought in well over a year since February 2020, and he’d looking slow, weak, and fat around the middle.
In other words, this isn’t the Fury that clubbed former WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder, into submission last year.
This is the Fury that we saw against against Sefer Seferi back in 2018. That’s not going to be enough for Fury to beat Joshua.
Fury needs a tune-up fight
Clearly, Fury need a tune-up, and he has to lose more weight for him to get ready for Joshua. The way that Fury looked on Thusday’s workout, he would have massive trouble trying beat Joshua.
This is arguably a step down for Joshua from his fight with Kubrat Pulev last December. The way that Fury looked tonight, he would have a lot of truble trying to beat Pulev.
Fury needs to take off that spare tire that he’s carryig around his waist, but work his punching power and hand speed. Right now, Fury is too weak, fat and slow for him to have a chance against a guy like Joshua.
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