BOXING promoter Bob Arum has named four potential locations for Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s highly-anticipated heavyweight bout.
Arum, 90, has been working to secure the fight since Fury vowed to come out of retirement to take on Usyk after the Ukrainian defeated Anthony Joshua for the second time last week.
He is optimistic that a deal will be completed soon and has earmarked Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Las Vegas as potential locations for the event.
When speaking to BoxingScene.com, Arum admitted that confirming a location is currently the top priority.
He said: “Saudi Arabia I think had a good experience with the last fight (Usyk vs Joshua) that they did.
“And Qatar is hosting this enormous World Cup event, so they might be interested.
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“And then, I’m sure Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, will be interested. So, yeah, we’ll take all of that into account.
“And there is a lot of interest from people in the United States. I think there’s a group of casinos in Las Vegas that are trying to get together and bring the event to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
“So, that’s all up in the air. We’ll all decide what the best deal is. It’ll be in consultation with Queensberry, Frank Warren and his son, George, and the fighters. But we’re in a great position.”
Only a select few high-profile locations will be able to consider hosting the bout as Fury is demanding a whopping £500MILLION to get back in the ring.
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But, the pressure is on as the Gypsy King has set a deadline of September 1 to get the deal completed.
If terms have not been agreed before then, he has threatened to go back into retirement.
Earlier this week, he told TalkSPORT: “Everyone keeps asking about this fight with this Ukrainian guy. Are you going to come back? Are you going to do this? Are you going to do that?
“Let’s face it, it’s not Anthony Joshua – which I would’ve done for free in England.
“It’s some foreigner who nobody really cares about. To fight this unknown quantity and give him an opportunity of legendary status? They have to pay for that.
“They have a week. It’s August 24. They have a week to submit their offers. I want it in writing with proof of funds.”
This came just days after Usyk defeated Joshua in a split decision thriller.
After the fight, the Ukrainian called out Fury and challenged him to an undisputed heavyweight championship bout.
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He said: “I’m sure that Tyson Fury is not retired yet. I’m sure, I’m convinced he wants to fight me.
“I want to fight him and if I’m not fighting Tyson Fury, I’m not fighting at all.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
