Tyson Fury could be next in Saudi Arabia for winner of Usyk-Joshua showdown

Oleksandr Usyk could get used to boxing in Saudi Arabia because according to insiders the winner of Saturday’s heavyweight title fight in Jeddah has already agreed to face Tyson Fury for the undisputed title there next year.

Usyk defends the WBA, WBO and IBF titles against Anthony Joshua, who he took them from last year. And while Fury, the WBC champion, has claimed he has retired, no one really believes him.

Least of all Derek Chisora, the London heavyweight, who lost to Fury in 2011 and 2014. Fury has been claiming that he offered Chisora £2 million for a third fight, something Chisora has denied, but the Londoner, who is managed by Joshua's company 258 Management and has a reputation for blurting out sensitive information, claims Fury already has a deal with Saturday’s winner.

“The Saudis have a two-fight deal with AJ, Usyk and Fury,” Chisora said. “This and then the winner fights Fury for undisputed.”

So, when the Ukrainian started his speech at Wednesday’s press conference by saying it was his third time there and he hoped to come back again, he probably had the Fury fight in mind.

Usyk first came to Jeddah in 2018 when he was due to face Murat Gassiev to unify the world cruiserweight title, although that fight was moved to Moscow after Usyk was injured. But he had been out for the launch and did likewise for this fight before returning for the real business last week.

Usyk, who had dressed like The Joker in the build-up to his first meeting with Joshua in London, came in full Cossack costume for Wednesday’s head-to-head at the Shangri-La hotel beside the Red Sea to show his warrior side.

But while the first fight, last September at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, ended with Joshua under heavy bombardment, Usyk