Top Rank president Todd DeBoeuf says he is waiting like the rest of the boxing world after Tyson Fury set a September 1 deadline for his prospective undisputed heavyweight showdown with Oleksandr Usyk to be made.
Fury has previously stated he will not return to the ring for less than ?500m, however, instructed his promoters last week to inform the WBC he intends to continue fighting despite repeatedly suggesting he had retired from boxing.
DeBoeuf insists Fury is being given the space to decide his next steps but reminds that anything can happen.
“It’s the Tyson Fury show,” DeBoeuf told Sky Sports. “He I think technically is at a pause, he’s paused his career and we respect that and we’re continually having conversations with the Warrens in the UK about what possibly could come down the pipeline.
“I think if an Usyk fight happens, I think it would probably happen some time in the first part of 2023.
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“But nothing imminent with Tyson right now, other than I’m just ready for him to get on social media and surprise all of us with another crazy statement.”
Whether or not Fury’s supposed ‘deadline’ had substance remains uncertain. For DeBoeuf, though, there is no rush or timeframe on striking a deal with Uysk’s team.
“It’s hard for me to decipher that (whether the deadline was real),” he added. “I think the Warrens have been in constant communication with him and his team, we’ve had conversations and we’re not being reactive to a tweet or a video clip.
“We’re looking at the whole landscape of what we’re going to do.
“We’re going to try and secure what would be the biggest fight out there for him, and obviously both him and Usyk want to bring all the heavyweight titles together on one night and that would obviously be our objective.
“If you’re off by a day, a month, six weeks, what does it matter as long as you get that done?”
What has become clearer in the aftermath of Usyk’s successful title defence against Anthony Joshua is that both are open to and keen on a winner-takes-all contest to decide the king of the heavyweight division.
“I’ve been down the road with a lot of difficult fights being made,” explained DeBoeuf. “Obviously the Mayweather-Pacquiao and De La Hoya-Trinidad were very difficult to make.
“I’m not sure it (Fury v Usyk) should be that difficult of a fight to make, but I do believe it’s a fight that until you get to the table it’s too early to call or say.
“Usyk is coming off a great win, he basically certified the first win with a wonderful second victory over Joshua. He’s been going through a lot with Ukraine and I think right now we’re going to be in a position where you let him take his time, come back to us and we know his handlers very well.
“When you get all the parties to the table, we’ll find out.”
It beckons as one of the biggest heavyweight clashes in boxing history, and DeBoeuf wants it to be treated as such having witnessed Fury’s recent UK homecoming at a sold-out Wembley Stadium earlier this year.
“Everybody talks about ‘where’s it going to go? where could it go?’, it’s too early to say,” he admitted.
“I would say this. I’ve been a lot of fights and a lot of events recently – the Fury-Whyte event at Wembley was special, it was special.
“It was special to be there with 95,000 people and that’s the type of event you would like for this crowning moment. But I don’t know that’s the case.”
DeBoeuf says Fury is currently communicating more frequently with Frank Warren Queensberry Promotions, joking that he often wakes up in the morning to a flurry of WhatsApp or text messages detailing progress of a potential Usyk fight.
Fury has meanwhile used his platform to call for an end to knife crime after cousin Rico Burton was fatally stabbed on Sunday, August 21. Burton’s funeral took place on Thursday.
“I think we just sit around and kind of allow him to find his space and give us a little direction when he feels compelled to do so,” said DeBoeuf. “Sometimes we see posts on social media or videos that are so conflicting to what we thought we were going to hear from him.
“But I think we’re in a position where with Tyson Fury he has so much intrigue around him and he’s such a showman that you never know what’s going to happen. We’re in the same position as most of you in the media and fight fans.”
The biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing – Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall – is live on Sky Sports on Saturday September 10. Be part of history and buy tickets for the London showdown here.