WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s management has sent a draft contract to IBF/WBA/WBO champ Oleksandr Usyk for him to quickly look over for a fight in March for the undisputed champion.
What’s surprising is Fury hasn’t given Usyk a week’s deadline to agree to the contract and sign it as he did with Anthony Joshua.
That could mean that Fury feels confident enough to want to fight Usyk because the only fighter he gave a deadline to, as far as this writer can tell, is Joshua, which suggests that Tyson didn’t feel confident enough about winning the fight to negotiate in a normal manner.
Nevertheless, it’s still early, so perhaps we could see Fury speak up and let Usyk know he’s got a week or less deadline to agree to the contract, or he’s walking.
“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,” said Frank Warren to talkSPORT Fight Night about a contract being sent from team Tyson Fury to Oleksandr Usyk for a March undisputed fight.
“Wherever the most money comes from,” Warren said about where the Fury vs. Usyk fight will be staged. “Nothing’s in place from anywhere outside the UK.
It’s critical that Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) and his team not delay looking over the draft contract because they’ve only got two months before the proposed fight against Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) if it’s to take place in March as hoped for.
Fury’s promoters, Frank Warren & Bob Arum, haven’t said who their plan B opponent is if the Usyk fight fails to happen. One would hope they’re aiming for the top of the tree this time by looking for a higher caliber opponent than the last two fighters, Derek Chisora and Dillian Whyte.
Fury is certainly capable of competing against better opposition than simple aging journeymen like Chisora & Whyte.
Recently, Fury had talked of wanting to fight Joe Joyce if his fight with Usyk fails to happen, but it’s unknown if he was just talking to put pressure on Oleksandr Usyk to sign quickly for fear of losing out on the fight.
What was telling was Fury allowed Joyce in the ring after his win over the 38-year-old journeyman Chisora on December 3rd in London. That was an apparent move to gain a negotiating advantage over Usyk to let him know that he has competition for the Fury fight and not to ask for the sun & the stars.
“They went where the money was, and these guys will do the same thing. I want to get the fight on in March, and so will Tyson,” Warren said.
“We just want to get it on in March, and that’ll set them up for another big fight in the autumn.”