Bob Arum made the trek to Saudi Arabia because – like everyone else – he’s fascinated to see what will transpire in Saturday’s rematch between his former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and the unbeaten three-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“He’s in great mental shape,” Arum told BoxingScene, “but let’s be honest about it, he’s not a spring chicken anymore.”
At 36, Fury has been through 242 rounds of professional boxing action, including an astounding six knockdowns in his past nine fights.
Those range from the most severe – that 12th-round belting by Deontay Wilder that knocked Fury briefly unconscious – to the most damning – the ninth-round barrage and dropping that cost Fury the first Usyk fight by split decision on May 18.
Before that – and even after it, if you can recall the video scene of Fury tumbling over himself outside a bar in the days after the Usyk loss – there was the hard living that Fury engaged in, causing a three-year absence following his 2015 upset victory over long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko.
The 37-year-old Usyk 22-0 (14 KOs) is actually a year older than Fury, but it doesn’t feel like it, and when it’s considered how the better boxer and two-division undisputed champion separated himself from a wilting Fury in the later rounds seven months ago, it makes sense that Fury should pursue an aggressive fight plan seeking to end the bout sooner rather than later.
Arum agreed with the notion that the toll of so many battles may lead both Fury and Usyk to leave the sport following Saturday’s event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Also, [consider] how much money they’ve made in the two fights,” Arum said.
With Usyk positioned as a -150 betting favorite, those favoring Fury point to the adjustments he made in responding to his 2018 draw with Wilder in their first bout to his seventh-round TKO of the same man in 2020.
Adjustments winning Fury that Wilder rematch “was certainly the case. Whether it’s the case with Usyk, I just don’t know,” Arum, 93, said.
“You won’t see a letdown [like the one in the first bout] where he figures he’s winning the fight before Usyk pounced on him and knocked him down. I had [Fury] winning every round but one before that … .”
It’s such a demanding and significant test in front of each man, it seems silly to project what’s next, but since it’s boxing, even Arum considered the situation.
He said Usyk is not bound to a rematch clause should Fury win this second fight.
“The one fight that [Fury] is looking to if he beats Usyk is [two-time heavyweight champion Anthony] Joshua … that fight has been talked about for as long as I can remember,” Arum said of a bout that would match two Brits and fill any soccer stadium in the U.K.
Arum said Saudi Arabia fight broker Turki Alalshikh is receptive to the idea of staging Fury-Joshua in the U.K. instead of his muted, sanitized private quarters in Saudi Arabia.
“I think Turki would look for that fight to happen with his participation in Wembley [Stadium],” Arum said.
Arum was asked, “Could that fight come before a third Usyk fight?”
He answered, “Or instead of … .
“This is just me speculating. It could happen even if Usyk beats [Fury Saturday].”
Former Olympic gold-medalist Joshua has carried on a years-long rivalry with his less distinguished “Gypsy King” rival, Fury, but Joshua squandered the opportunity for a unification of champions when he was dropped four times and stopped in the fifth round by new IBF champion Daniel Dubois in September.
Fury’s ability to defeat Usyk and bring three belts to a Joshua showdown would certainly elevate the bout far beyond how it would stand if both former champions enter off of losses.
Yet, the pent-up demand to see these two go at it and the likelihood that it would be fought by two men battling with reckless abandon still whets the appetite.
First comes Saturday.