By James Slater: Promoter Mick Hennessey has big plans for his fighter, unbeaten heavyweight brawler Tyson Fury. The promoter is reportedly hoping to get the reigning British and Commonwealth ruler a big fight next March 17th, Saint Patrick’s day, in his U.S debut. The plan is for Fury to box at Madison Square Garden (possibly on the under-card of the in-the-works Sergio Martinez-Matthew Macklin world middleweight title fight) – and unbeaten Russian star Alexander Povetkin is the man Hennessey has in mind as Fury’s opponent.
The word, as reported by The Daily Mirror, is for Hennessey to offer Povetkin “first refusal” to fight big Tyson, and the Russian’s promoter, Kalle Sauerland, is said to be “open to the idea.” However, Sauerland has made it very clear: the money offered by Hennessey will have to be “big.”
“I haven’t heard from Mick. He’s got my number and all he has to do is call me,” Sauerland said. “It could be a great fight. Povetkin’s big in Europe and has been boxing in Germany for a long time. So if the fight were to be at Madison Square Garden , it would take a big offer to make it happen. Fury is obviously keen to take the next step up, but I think he would have bitten off more than he can chew if he took on Povetkin.”
So, just what kind of money would Sauerland need for this fight to come off? First of all, of course, Povetkin must get past the tough and durable Cedric Boswell on December 3rd, and Fury is scheduled to have a fight in January in the U.K. But with the two rival heavies having exchanged a few words recently – Fury claming he would “take out” Povetkin tomorrow, no problem; Povetkin firing back – the match-up is a natural.
Povetkin is a world champion of sorts, as he holds the “regular” WBA heavyweight belt, while Fury has admitted he is months away from being ready to go in with either of the Klitschkos. The potential Povetkin-Fury fight – which could be looked at as a sort of “junior” or “youth” championship fight seeing as how everyone knows the real WBA heavyweight boss is Wladimir Klitschko – could serve to give the winner further experience and self belief on the way to a shot at the real title.
Fury and his team say he can go all the way: a win over Povetkin would be a great start.