Bob Arum wants Tyson Fury to fight Oleksandr Usyk next week if a match-up can be made.
Fury’s co-promoter noted the WBC’s decision to not yet order Dillian Whyte to take part in a mandatory clash with the governing body’s current heavyweight champion.
Whyte and WBC are engaged in a disagreement over his designation as the mandatory challenger and that has been given as the reason to mandate any fight.
Arum and Fury’s other promoter, Frank Warren, are pursuing another fight in the meantime, and speaking to BoxingScene.com, he explained that while there are plans for a Cardiff fight between Whyte and Fury, there are other options under consideration.
“Frank and I are looking for the best possible opponent,” Arum said.
“Obviously, number one, we would like Usyk if [Anthony] Joshua steps aside. Number two, if that’s not possible, then Whyte probably is as attractive an opponent for Tyson as anybody else out there. So again, we’re gonna sit down with [Whyte’s] people and see if we can work out a deal.
“It’s a huge fight in England, and Tyson has indicated that he wants his next fight to be in the UK. So, now there’s two guys that come to mind – one is Whyte, the other is [Joe] Joyce. We’re gonna see. And, of course, it all depends on who Fury wants to fight. Ultimately, he’ll decide.”
Joshua is set to fight Usyk in early 2022 after exercising his rematch clause following his September defeat to the Ukrainian.
Arum also said he understood the WBC not yet giving the go-ahead for a Whyte fight.
“You can’t sue an organization and then say, ‘Well, make us mandatory,’ ” Arum explained.
“Again, [the WBC is] quite right – until this is decided in arbitration, he doesn’t deserve to be the mandatory. I think they made a very, very appropriate decision. Now, that doesn’t mean that Tyson won’t end up fighting Dillian Whyte. But it won’t be done on a mandatory basis.”