Tyson Fury looks set to face Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley Stadium in London, UK, on April 29 in a heavyweight bout that would unify the division for the first time in its four-belt era.
The World Boxing Association (WBA) announced on Friday (March 10): “WBA president Gilberto Mendoza received confirmation from Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury's teams that there is an agreement to make the unification fight. They request time to work on the contracts to close the deal.”
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Usyk’s lawyer confirmed the date and location to Reuters, also noting that the Ukrainian had accepted 30% of the purse to Fury’s 70%.
Speaking to TalkSport radio, Fury’s co-promoter Frank Warren commented: “It’s on. Subject to the contracts being sorted out, everyone is on the same page. We just have to keep moving it along and I’m sure it will happen.”
He added: “It’s the first time four belts have been on the line. It’s the biggest heavyweight fight in goodness knows how many years.”
Fury-Usyk is one of the most highly anticipated boxing bouts for years and is likely to deliver huge – even record – figures in terms of revenues, the fight purse, and viewership.
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By GlobalDataNegotiations have been protracted, though, with Bob Arum, another of Fury’s promoters, having told Sky Sports in December that the two had agreed to fight in early 2023.
He said then: “We are balancing a couple of significant offers from the Middle East and also there’s the possibility of doing the fight in the UK at Wembley with a massive 95,000 crowd in attendance …
“We’ll have it sorted out. I hope maybe by the end of the year.”
Though that didn’t come to pass, the fight appears now to be all but locked in.
Negotiations for a domestic showdown between Fury and Anthony Joshua had collapsed earlier last year, with Fury instead facing Derek Chisora for a third time in December. Prior to that, a win against Dillian Whyte followed Fury’s second and third wins over the US’ Deontay Wilder.
Usyk, meanwhile, comes off back-to-back wins against Joshua.
Both Fury and Usyk remain unbeaten in their professional careers.
Image: Warren Little/Getty Images
