Negotiations are ongoing between the current holders of all heavyweight belts. British Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) and Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) from Ukraine even have a preliminary date and venue for the fight – April 29 at Wembley Stadium in London (England).
But what if the parties fail to agree on the distribution of the prize fund, which will suit everyone? In that case, Fury has a fallback option. And he voiced it: “I have already made an official proposal to Francis Ngannou. It lies on his table. I want to offer him two fights – one in the ring and one in the cage.
Fury claims he “never pushed for the ring. On the contrary, I always talked about fighting him in a cage. Why is that? Yes, because in the ring this fight is without intrigue, which means it makes no sense. It would be about the same result if I had a fight with someone from the local hall. And not boxing, but bodybuilding. But in a cage in 4-ounce gloves there is intrigue. Anything can happen there.”
Ngannou – the former UFC heavyweight champion – expectedly failed to agree with the promotion on a new contract. He plans to continue his career in boxing.
Meanwhile, Usyk’s promoter shared the latest news on the progress of the negotiations. He says he “will fight for fair terms” and has already responded to Fury’s demands. According to the owls of a businessman, “Only one thing can interfere with the Usyk-Fury battle …”