BOB ARUM says he has no idea when Tyson Fury is going to fight next.
The New Yorker co-promotes the British heavyweight alongside Frank Warren.
This year Fury 33-0-1 (24) has seen negotiations for a super-fight against Oleksandr Usyk break down while hopes of a summer return fade with each passing day.
Arum was more optimistic about Fury’s future when he spoke to Ringside Reporter 12 days ago. The Top Rank founder and CEO had hoped that the 34-year-old would be fighting Zhilei Zhang in July. However, Joe Joyce has thrown a spanner in the works. ‘The Juggernaut lost to Zhang last month but has chosen to invoke his rematch clause.
With the possibility that Fury may not fight any time soon there is speculation that his team and Usyk’s have restarted talks. Skills Challenge Entertainment are looking to stage the matchup in Saudi Arabia in December along with a fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder on the same card.
Boxing News spoke to Arum in Las Vegas about Fury’s future ahead of Top Rank’s show on Saturday headlined by Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
“I have no idea what Tyson Fury is gonna do,” he said.
“I don’t know if Tyson Fury has an idea of what he wants to do. If I were Tyson Fury, I’d try to get in the ring before the end of the year but I’m not Tyson Fury. He’s a tremendous talent and he knows what he wants more than any others and we’ll be guided accordingly by him. In other words, throwing out names of opponents or dates by a promoter is ridiculous. It depends on Tyson Fury and when and where he wants to fight.”
Arum would not be drawn on talks over Fury fighting Usyk in Saudi Arabia but says should the fight happen; it will go where the two men can make the most money.
“Talks aren’t progressed but again there’s time for those talks to happen, I hope. Particularly since they’re throwing out all this money [for] that double header. I have no idea at all whether it’s realistic. I have no idea. It may or may not be realistic.
“The money that allegedly the Saudis would put up for that fight far exceeds the money that the fighters could earn any place else in the world. We’ll have to see. Right now, it’s all in limbo.”
