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Top Rank’s CEO Bob Arum, who co-promotes WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, says a unification with Anthony Joshua will be the top priority – provided both champions win their upcoming fights.
Fury will defend his title against Deontay Wilder in a trilogy fight on October 9
And Joshua will stake the WBA, IBF, IBO, WBO heavyweight titles against Oleksandr Usyk on September 25.
In a recent interview, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn indicated that he views the month of February as a realistic time to stage Fury-Joshua.
Arum believes the contest is an easy one to make.
The two sides were close to an agreement earlier this year – before an arbitrator ordered Fury to honor a rematch clause due to Wilder.
Things were further delayed when Fury contracted COVID-19, which in turn rescheduled the Wilder defense from July 24 to October.
On Arum’s end, he will not allow any mandatory fights to get in the way of Fury-Joshua.
“The problem with Eddie? He cannot stop talking. When he says February? He is saying the fight will happen next year which is clearly correct. Joshua is fighting in September, we are fighting in October. Obviously [Joshua vs Fury] will take place next year,” Arum told Sky Sports.
“But February, March or April? That remains to be seen.” My hope is that the fight goes to the UK. I don’t care what the money is. Both fighters owe the UK fans this tremendous event at Wembley or Cardiff, rather than taking it to a foreign country.
“My position is: if Fury and Joshua win, screw any mandatories! Fury vs Joshua is the fight that people want to see. Period. End of story. That is an easy fight to make. It is not a hard fight to make.”