An enormous night of boxing could be in the works.
Anthony Joshua has indicated that a card featuring him against Deontay Wilder as well as Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship could happen in Saudi Arabia, possibly in December.
Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) and Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) presumably would have to win their upcoming fights – Fury against MMA star Francis Ngannou on Oct. 28 and Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs) on Saturday in Wroclaw, Poland (ESPN+) – for the blockbuster event to take place.
“From what I’ve heard, things are positive,” Joshua told Sky Sports. “We’ve got the stumbling block, Fury has to get past Ngannou and Usyk has to get past Dubois. Good luck to both of them, good luck to all parties involved and then we can sit down and rejig things around.
“The goal is to have Usyk and Fury potentially compete for the undisputed heavyweight championship. Myself and Deontay Wilder, two big punchers, great fighters, been to the top of the mountain, slug it out and may the best man win.
“It will be a great event, potentially. We’re just waiting to see what happens and then finalize the devil in the detail.”
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Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) is coming off a seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius on Aug. 12, after which his promoter, Eddie Hearn, said he client is near a deal with Wilder.
And Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) confirmed that he and his rival are in talks, saying they’re working on a two-fight deal. The first meeting would take place in Saudi Arabia, the second in Africa.
“That’s the fight we want,” said promoter Eddie Hearn, referring to Wilder. “We have a three-fight plan, whether you like it or not. It was Robert Helenius … Deontay Wilder, and then Tyson Fury. That’s the ambition of the team. …
He went on: “We believe he can go on to beat Deontay Wilder. … We look to try to close that deal over the next couple of days. Joshua is ready for that fight.”
Wilder told ESNews: “That’s the one that’s up next. I’ll be getting in camp for that real soon. It’s going to be a great, great fight between me and him.”
Fury vs. Usyk might be more difficult to make.
The titleholders seemed to have an agreement in place to face one another this past April but the fight fell apart over terms for a potential rematch.
Fury and Usyk agreed to a 70-30 split of the revenue in Fury’s favor. However, they reportedly couldn’t agree on a split if the loser invokes a rematch clause. As a result, the fighters went different directions for the time being.
Plus, Fury recently told Sky Sports that he’s not optimistic about a potential meeting with Usyk for all four major titles.
“In this last year, I’ve tried two or three times,” he said. “It’s always not happened for whatever reason. I’m not optimistic. During the negotiations of this year, I was very optimistic. But there was a lot more stuff going on.
“After that, I was like, ‘It’s not happening.’ I even bet with [promoter] Frank Warren, a 10,000 pounds bet that it wouldn’t get signed and he said it would in a week, so I won the bet.”
Of course, many fights have come to fruition after multiple failures at the negotiating table.
Perhaps the deep pockets of the Saudis and the promise of being the featured fighters on what would be one of the biggest cards in many years will push Fury and Usyk past any lingering obstacles.