Tyson Fury is preparing to face Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed heavyweight title fight on May 18.
Tyson Fury will be forced to pay a huge fee to Oleksandr Usyk if he withdraws from their upcoming fight at late notice.
Fury, 35, is due to face Usyk, 37, on May 18 in an undisputed heavyweight title fight in Saudi Arabia.
It was originally due to take place on February 17 but Fury was forced to withdraw from the bout after sustaining a cut above his eye during sparring.
Usyk’s promoter, Alexander Krassyuk, has expressed doubts over whether Fury will be ready for the rearranged fight and has claimed that Filip Hrgovic will be drafted in to face the undefeated Ukrainian if the ‘Gypsy King’ pulls out for a second time.
Hrgovic is scheduled to meet Daniel Dubois on June 1, but will get the call-up for the undisputed showdown should anything happen to the WBC title holder.
→ Swipe to see more articles
“Usyk has actually had a triple camp for this fight,” Krassyuk said (via GB News).
“He started in September for the fight to take place last December. We showed up to the [Francis] Ngannou fight to step in the ring to announce the fight for the undisputed, but his team jumped and said he didn’t look that good, so Usyk gave him some space to prepare at his camp in Saudi Arabia.
“We were then meant to fight on Feb 17, then we were rescheduled for May.”
He added: “Tyson Fury has withdrawn four times already from this fight.
“Remember that we were looking to fight last April; he pulled out of it then, too. That’s why we fought Daniel Dubois. This will be the fourth camp we have had for Tyson Fury.
“I’ve not got too much confidence in the rematch happening, by the way. If Tyson Fury loses, will he have the confidence to step inside the ring again? Theoretically he can, but we all know what happened in the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.”
Tyson Fury is preparing to face Oleksandr Usyk (Image: Getty)
Should Fury pull out of the fight, he could be forced to pay a huge fee as per the terms of staging the bout in Saudi Arabia.
During an episode of The MMA Hour With Ariel Helwani in February after the first fight was postponed, Saudi royal adviser Turki Alalshikh – the man responsible for bringing world-class boxing to the Gulf state – confirmed both fighters would be required to pay their opponent a huge sum if they pulled out of the second date.
“I guarantee both of the fighters £10m if someone escapes from the fight. This is the first thing, and the second thing – I guarantee a big fight on the same night for another one,” he added.
“Make the people around the world know if someone is scared and wants to escape from this fight.
“May 18 – we will have Tyson vs Usyk.”
