Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk resume talks over fight in Saudi tournament

Tyson Fury’s promoter has revealed that negotiations over a potential meeting with Oleksandr Usyk have resumed, with the prospect of the unification world heavyweight bout taking place in Saudi Arabia as part of a tournament also featuring Anthony Joshua.

Talks between WBC champion Fury and Usyk – who holds the WBA, WBO and IBF titles – broke down in March following a disagreement over how the purse would be split, with Bob Arum confirming this week Fury is likely to face Zhilei Zhang at Wembley in July following the Chinese fighter’s victory over Joe Joyce last month.

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But asked if talks were back underway for a fight that would be expected to generate millions for both camps, promoter Bob Arum told Ringside Reporter: “Yes. That is correct. I have talked to a representative of Skills Challenge, that puts on these boxing events in Saudi Arabia. We know those people, we worked for them in connection with the Jake Paul and Tommy Fury fight as far as the US television is concerned, so we know who the players are and we’ve had some very interesting talks with them.”

Fury has previously dismissed suggestions that he could take part in a four-man tournament in Saudi Arabia that would also see former world champion Joshua take on American Deontay Wilder, with the winners potentially facing each other at a later date. “I can confirm that these rumours are absolute bullshit,” he said.

Joshua admitted last month that there “might be some truth” in reports of he could face Wilder as part of the tournament. “Have you ever heard of anything like that before? Two heavyweight clashes on the