TYSON FURY has an offer to take his Dillian Whyte fight to Saudi Arabia.
The WBC heavyweight king only managed one fight in 2021, the incredible trilogy win over Deontay Wilder, and wants to fight in the Spring before squeezing a few bouts into 2022.
And the Mexican sanctioning body has ordered their 6ft 9in ace to fight mandatory challenger Whyte first, while Anthony Joshua handles a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk over the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
Both Brit giants will be eager to earn as much as possible from the all-English showdown but Whyte especially as the WBC have insisted their interim champion is worthy of only 20 per cent of the purse.
And, as we learned from AJ’s mega-money Saudi win over Andy Ruiz Jr, the Saudi site fees stumped up to land big events and help improve the country’s image can boost purses spectacularly.
Fury has already headlined a show in Saudi, wrestling for the WWE in 2019 for a rumoured £12million.
And he teased a return to the oil-rich nation last week with a clip of him posing with a photo of that show, saying: “The Saudi Arabian king is coming back! Get up there my boy!
“Some big news coming, hold tight!’”
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Fury spoke directly to Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud in May 2021, when he was deep in negotiations for a doomed showdown with Joshua in the hyper-conservtive region.
And was already well on board with helping to promote the fight, as well as the widely criticised rulers who have been accused of sports washing.
He roared: “I’ve just got off the phone from Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia, he’s told me this fight is 100 per cent on. August 14, 2021 summertime.
“All eyes of the world will be on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“This is going to be the biggest sporting event ever to grace the planet earth. Do not miss it. All eyes on us.”
The bout collapsed when he was forced into the Wilder finale by an arbitration judge.
But it seems the pair have kept on good terms and hosting a Fury defence could strengthen Saudi’s chance of finally holding an undisputed heavyweight battle.
When the Arab state held Joshua’s cautious rematch win over Andy Ruiz Jr in December 2019, it was on the basis that his subsequent shot at the remaining WBC belt against Fury or Wilder would happen there.
And now the boxing power brokers in the House of Saud have another shot at teeing up the sport’s pinnacle event by holding lead-up bouts.
Whyte boxed on the AJ undercard in Diriyah, so has no problem boxing under the controversial regime.
And Oleksandr Usyk was ringside as a guest to watch all the action on the outskirts of Riyadh, so should have no problem signing up for another Gulf mission.
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