By Shaun Murphy-
Anthony and Dillian Whyte could demand £20million between them to step aside and allow Tyson Fury to fight Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury is in talks for a mega-money undisputed world heavyweight showdown with Usyk in the Middle East, after Dillian Whyte seemed to be pricing himself out by charging too much.
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Arranging the queue to face the winner could be a major problem and it is understood AJ is set to be offered £15m to step aside and Whyte £5m. Whyte is in a legal battle with the WBC regarding the purse split for his title shot against 33-year-old Fury
Joshua, 32, has triggered his clause for a rematch with Usyk, 35, for the WBA, IBF and WBO belts he lost to the Ukrainian in September. Last month, Joshua, indicated willingness to accept a big step aside pay out, for Usyk and Fury to fight for the undisputed title saying he would want to fight to defend the belts, but couldn’t ignore business considerations.
However, following a mandatory order by the Wbc for Tyson Fury to defend his belts against Dillian Whyte, Joshua turned his attention back on Usyk in a bid to regain the undisputed belts he lost. As the unpredictability of boxing would have it, the a dispute between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte over purse bids, has led to an offer of step aside money to Joshua and Dillian Whyte, to allow Fury and Usyk, both of whom are unbeaten, to fight for the title.
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Tough fighter: Dillian Whyte Image: Richard Heathcote
Usyk was a class about golden boy Joshua last September Image: Skysports.com
According to a report by the Daily Star, Joshua is demanding £15million to pass up on his rematch with Usyk whilst Whyte wants £5million to allow the undisputed clash.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, who looks after both Joshua and White, confirmed: “There are people who would like to see Fury v Usyk for the undisputed title — and would be willing to pay a lot of money for it.
“If there is a lot of money in the pot, and a plan put in place to make all the fighters happy, then there is a chance it can happen.
“The problem is time. Conversations started a month ago — but they are very complex.”
“What’s happening is just promises coming out of the Middle East about doing a unified fight with Usyk and Fury, and is Dillian Whyte gonna step aside.
“And people that have absolutely no contractual ties – like Frank Warren’s Queensberry and our Top Rank do – are getting involved.
“It’s a typical terrible kind of situation, but hopefully it’ll get sorted out and probably it will get sorted out with a purse bid on Friday.”
Tyson Fury successfully defended his Wbc belt when he defeated Deontey Wilder after an 11 round war in Las Vegas last October, and Usyk outclassed Anthony Joshua in September in London.
The gypsy king remains the man to beat in the division, and many boxing fans will now like to see him face Usyk, after the buzz for a unification class with Anthony Joshua was dashed when he took a beating from the classy former cruiserweight world champion.
Joshua will face criticism for contemplating the offer of cash to step aside, instead of confidently going for a revenge win similar to what he achieved against Andy Ruiz Jnr.
Critics in boxing circles feel the londoner is concerned about the prospect of loosing twice against the talented Ukranian boxer and could see a big pay out as a strategically better option, allowing him to fight the winner at the same time as earning a big pay day.
The disadvantage in boxing terms is that Joshua will have very little chance of beating the winner of Fury v Usyk, as they would be coming off two big wins at world championship level, whilst Joshua will be coming off an embarrassing defeat and the psychological set back of having collected a big pay to gathering more reust.
Tyson Fury stopped Wilder after an 11 round battle in Las Vegas Image: Al Bello
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