Todd DuBoef, the president of Top Rank, is optimistic that talks over an undisputed heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will pick up after the Gypsy King’s fight with Francis Ngannou.
The WBC heavyweight champion is preparing to face Ngannou in a crossover fight on October 28th, 2023, as the latter makes his boxing debut. Meanwhile, Usyk recently stopped his WBA mandatory Daniel Dubois in the ninth round. Talks over a fight had taken place for a bout in April at Wembley. Usyk had publicly agreed to take a 70-30 split in order to push the fight over the line. However, disagreements over the rematch clause resulted in talks breaking down.
Although Usyk has indicated his desire to still make the fight happen after his win over Dubois, Fury has been reluctant. The ‘Gypsy King’ outlined his plans moving forward after his fight with Ngannou, which included a potential rematch in the cage. This was in addition to boxing Jones Jones, topping Forbes and making a Hollywood movie. But even with the lack of enthusiasm coming from Fury’s side, DuBoef was confident that talks would pick up again provided Fury beats Ngannou.
Top Rank Prez Hopeful That Fury-Usyk Talks Will Fire Up After Ngannou Fight https://t.co/sJiPdlTELF pic.twitter.com/x2VlibIkcz
— BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) September 21, 2023
“Absolutely, [confident over talks]. I think we were plagued by timing in this last go-around. Timing from both guys just didn’t match up and we were trying to squeeze this fight in, in the spring, before the Dubois-Usyk mandatory had to happen. There were a bunch of circumstances, so the good news is Usyk came out of the fight with Dubois.
“Tyson is going to stay razor-sharp and hopefully is going to be fighting the baddest man on the planet, and they’re going to be going at it. I think, soon after that, it would be appropriate, and the stars should align for timing purposes, that the unification happens very soon,” DuBoef
Those talks, though, would have to result in Usyk potentially making more compromises. After all, it is difficult to see how a unified heavyweight champion can come down from a 70-30 split, given that he is undefeated with three belts. But one thing Fury has shown is a tendency to stick to his guns. So, moving forward, it may be a question of how much Usyk wants the fight.