Todd DuBoef: Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk undisputed fight can still happen after Francis Ngannou clash

September 20, 2023

Todd DuBoef believes an undisputed heavyweight title showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk can still happen sooner rather than later.

Negotiations for WBC title holder Fury and WBA, WBO and IBF champion Usyk to face each other broke down in acrimonious circumstances earlier this year, with the Ukrainian instead facing Daniel Dubois in a mandatory bout last month which he won via a ninth-round stoppage.

Fury, meanwhile, will take on former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in a crossover bout in Saudi Arabia on October 28. Duboef, president of the British fighter's American promoters Top Rank, still sees an opportunity for him to fight Usyk for divisional supremacy after that, however.

"Absolutely," DuBoef told Sky Sports. "I think we were plagued by timing in this last go-around. Timing from both guys just didn't match up and we were trying to squeeze this fight in, in the spring, before the Dubois-Usyk mandatory had to happen.

"There were a bunch of circumstances, so the good news is Usyk came out of the fight with Dubois. Some people thought he didn't look as good as they thought he would, but it was a really good, competitive fight.

"Tyson is going to stay razor-sharp and hopefully is going to be fighting the baddest man on the planet, and they're going to be going at it.

"I think, soon after that, it would be appropriate, and the stars should align for timing purposes, that the unification happens very soon."

DuBoef would not be drawn on when a much-anticipated clash between Fury and Usyk could happen but did add a "shorter horizon" for it following the 35-year-old's fight with Ngannou makes sense.

He hit back at those critics complaining big fights are not being made as well, insisting an appetite still remains for it to happen.

DuBoef compared it to negotiations Top Rank CEO Bob Arum and rival promoter Don King were involved in while making the welterweight unification fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad in 1999.

"There was always an appetite," DuBoef said. "There's always an appetite to present something when it's always going against public opinion where people say 'you can't make the big fights'.

"I remember when they said 'Bob and Don will never make De La Hoya-Trinidad', and we sat in a deli with Don and the three of us made the fight.

"Sometimes, a lot of the narrative is created online and on social platforms today, and that's unfortunate and it creates headwinds for reality.

"People have knee-jerk responses to what they hear out there and it kind of drives the negotiation, so if we could keep everybody off the social platforms, I think the alignment of where you could get a big fight to unify all the titles, particularly in the heavyweight division, is very appealing for everyone."

Oleksandr Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk told Sky Sports they remain hopeful and are willing to cooperate with Fury's team to make the fight happen.

"We've always been optimistic and cooperative," Krassyuk said. "Usyk even accepted a 70/30 split [in Fury's favour] early [than] this to make it happen."

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