Tyson Fury’s fight for the undisputed world heavyweight championship against Oleksandr Usyk now heads to Wembley Stadium on April 29 as Saudi bidders cannot confirm if construction of the Jeddah stadium can be completed in time for the bout.
Fury is urging his rival Oleksandr Usyk to agree on the London date as original bidders, Saudi Arabia, cannot guarantee at this point that their new stadium in Jeddah will be in place before that set date.
Although the Gypsy King’s preference has always been Wembley for his British fans, but richer mega-million prizes are on offer for both fighters in the Saudi Kingdom, where Anthony Joshua lost to Usyk for the second time.
Both boxers are aware that the chance to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis could be lost if the fight scheduled for February is pushed any further.
Boxing’s sanctioning bodies the WBC in Fury’s case and the WBA, IBF and WBO Usyk holds will not wait forever for mandatory defences of their titles.
Fans will have to wait until week for both camps to take a decision while Wembley has already been booked by Fury’s promoters, Queensberry.
If a deal cannot be reached with Usyk, Fury will have to turn his attention on another designated challenger with the set date, April 29.
Usyk will also be eager to fight someone, as he shuffles between his boxing career and visits to Ukraine in support of his country’s war against Russia.
Writing by Tersoo Nicholas