TYSON FURY could accelerate his chances of fighting Anthony Joshua by putting on a masterclass against Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury faces Usyk in the heavyweight division’s first four-belt unification bout on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
Tyson Fury with his co-promoter Bob ArumCredit: Reuters
Anthony Joshua remains linked with fighting Tyson FuryCredit: Reuters
And the two are contracted to an immediate rematch right after, leaving AJ with a wait to fight either.
But Fury’s Hall of Fame US promoter Bob Arum believes if the Gypsy King can beat Usyk convincingly enough, the rematch could be scrapped.
And it would then allow Joshua, 34, to fill in to commence a Battle of Britain bout sooner than expected.
Arum told the Daily Mail: “I think the knock on Joshua has been that he’d lost his confidence. If a fighter loses his confidence, he’s very diminished.
“Now Joshua seems to be regaining his confidence, and if that continues Joshua will be a very dangerous fighter that could compete with anybody.
“What happens if Fury-Usyk turns out to be a classic? A fight that is so exciting and so thrilling that the public wants to see it again.
“Then that would certainly trump a Joshua fight, and contractually, it’s a fight that has to happen.
“Now, what happens if it’s a one-sided fight and Fury wins the fight?
“Then maybe everybody can sit down with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh and work out some arrangement to go right to Fury-Joshua.
“If Usyk wins the fight, I don’t think there would be that much demand for an Usyk-Joshua fight because after all they fought twice and Usyk beat him twice.
“So, one fight at a time, that’s my motto.”