Notebook: Fury issues deadline to make deal for undisputed title fight against Usyk

Loma fight headed to New York; King and Dubois settle lawsuit; new date for H. Fury-Hunter eliminator; Taylor and Andrade vacate titles; Quick hits; Show and tell

Aug 25, 2022

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Tyson Fury claims he is retired and while he has vacated The Ring magazine heavyweight title, he still holds the WBC belt but faces a WBC-imposed deadline on Friday to let the sanctioning body know if he intends to fight again.

WBC deadline or not, Fury imposed his own deadline on Wednesday in a pair of brief videos posted to his Instagram account and aimed at any suitors interested in luring him back to the ring for a fight with Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the other three sanctioning body belts, for the undisputed championship.

“Hi guys, to all the (people) out there that want to make the fight, I’m gonna give you all seven days — till the 1st of September, to come up with the money,” Fury said. “If not, thank you very much. It’s been a blast. I’m retired.”

He added in the next video, “And also, guys, I forgot to say, all the offers submitted must be to my lawyer, Robert Davies, in writing and with proof of funds. So, let the games begin.”

It remains to be seen if the WBC will extend its deadline for Fury’s decision to match the one he imposed on would-be investors in Fury-Usyk.

Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs), 34, of England, retained his title via one-sided sixth-round knockout of mandatory challenger and countryman Dillian Whyte on April 23 before a record crowd of 94,000 at Wembley Stadium in London. Fury said before the bout it would be the last of his career and said it again afterward. But he has gone back and forth about his commitment to retirement since.

If he returns to face Usyk it would be the biggest fight in boxing and Fury has said he wants $500 million for the fight, a shockingly high figure that would appear massively out of reach.

Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), 35, of Ukraine, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion, outpointed Anthony Joshua in a major upset in September 2021 to take the IBF, WBO and WBA titles and then outpointed him again to retain the belts and claim the vacant Ring title this past Saturday in their immediate rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

After the fight, Usyk said he only wants to face Fury next.

“I’m sure that Tyson Fury is not retired yet. I am convinced he wants to fight me,” Usyk said during his in-ring interview through an interpreter. “I want to fight him and if I’m not fighting Tyson Fury I’m not fighting at all.”

Loma to fight in New York

There’s been a date change for three-division champion and former pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko’s return to the ring and a location solidified.

Initially, Top Rank was planning for Lomachenko’s return, which will come in a 12-round lightweight fight against Jamaine Ortiz (16-0-1, 8 KOs), 26, of Worcester, Massachusetts, to take place on Oct. 22. However, it will instead take place on Oct. 29 to match it with the availability of the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Lomachenko arrived in Los Angeles last week from Ukraine, where he had been part of a territorial defense battalion for the past several months defending the country against the Russian invasion. During Monday’s news conference to announce the rematch between undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney and former unified titlist George Kambosos Jr., Top Rank chairman Bob Arum announced the Lomachenko date.

“I’m happy to say that Vasiliy has arrived in the United States with his entire family and they set up training in the Los Angeles area and Vasiliy will have his first fight back on Oct. 29, and I look forward to matching the winner of fight between Haney and Kambosos against Lomachenko in the first quarter of next year.”

A source later told Fight Freaks Unite that the fight will be at the Hulu Theater and headline a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs), a 34-year-old southpaw, was slated to challenge Kambosos in his home country of Australia in June but bowed out in mid-March before the fight was formally announced in order to remain in Ukraine. WBC titlist Haney replaced him and outpointed Kambosos to take his three belts and become the undisputed champion.

Lomachenko is coming off a one-sided decision over former lightweight titlist Richard Commey in December in the Madison Square Garden main arena for his second win in a row since his upset decision loss to Teofimo Lopez in their three-belt unification fight in October 2020.

King, Dubois settle

Promoter Don King and WBA “regular” titlist Daniel Dubois have settled the lawsuit Dubois filed against Don King Productions in circuit court in Broward County, Florida, in which Dubois alleged breach of contract because King’s company failed to pay him for his most recent bout.

England’s Dubois knocked out Trevor Bryan to win the WBA “regular” heavyweight title on June 11 in Miami on a card King promoted because he won a purse bid to secure promotional rights. However, Dubois sued King in early August claiming he had not been paid. On Tuesday, they reached a settlement.

“We have settled and Dubois will be paid in full,” Leon Margules, Dubois’ lawyer, told Fight Freaks Unite.

Margules said that he would seek a dismissal of the case in the coming days once the accounting is settled.

Dubois’ purse was due to be $1,402,200.45, his 45 percent share of King’s winning $3,116,001 purse bid. Dubois sued DKP for between $938,274.32 and $463,274.32 and will receive a figure at the lower end of that because, according to Margules, King paid Dubois’ IRS bill, which is typical for promoters to withhold from the purse of a foreign fighter, and he also handled Dubois’ obligation to pay the WBA sanctioning fees. King had credit for another $475,000, which was what Dubois and his promoter, Frank Warren, were getting for the U.K. broadcast rights.

The main issue was King claiming that Warren owed him $200,000 or so from deals from many years ago, even though King never sued Warren for that money and the contract for the fight was between DKP and Dubois, not Warren.

H. Fury-Hunter rescheduled

The WBA heavyweight title final eliminator between Hughie Fury and Michael Hunter has been rescheduled for Oct. 29 (Sky Sports in the United Kingdom) at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England, Boxxer announced on Wednesday.

The winner of the fight will become the mandatory challenger for “regular” titleholder Daniel Dubois.

Fury-Hunter was initially scheduled for July 2 at AO Arena in Manchester, England, but was postponed in mid-June when Fury became ill and was forced out of the fight. At that time the new date was announced for Nov. 12. Ultimately, it rescheduled a couple of weeks earlier.

Fury (26-3-0, 15 KOs), 27, of England, who is a first cousin of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, has won three fights in a row since a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Povetkin in August 2019. In his most recent fight, Fury stopped Christian Hammer in the fifth round in October.

“I take the fights everyone avoids,” Fury said. “Michael Hunter has fought the best and is up there with the best. These are the fights I want (so I can) show who is the best fighter out there. I’m looking forward to this challenge. I believe I’m one of the best fighters in the world and this is another big fight to prove I stand with the top three in the world heavyweight division.”

Hunter (20-1-2, 14 KOs), 34, of Las Vegas, is coming off a heavily disputed split draw with Jerry Forrest in December in a 10-rounder most thought Forrest clearly won. Hunter’s only official loss was a decision to Oleksandr Usyk challenging for his cruiserweight world title in 2017.

“Hughie Fury has patiently built his way back to world title contention and has overcome big obstacles along the way,” Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom said. “This is another huge test for him against one of the most avoided fighters in the division. Hughie is about to enter his prime. If he can get past Hunter, he puts himself in the mix for world titles in the coming months and years. Michael will also believe this is the chance he is waiting for, and with such a massive opportunity on the line for the winner, both fighters will be giving it their all. It promises to be an epic battle.”

Fury-Hunter was originally paired with an eight-round exhibition bout between British legend Ricky Hatton (45-3, 32 KOs), the former junior welterweight and welterweight titleholder, and Hall of Fame three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera (67-7, 44 KOs). It was postponed when Fury-Hunter was but so far has not been rescheduled as part of the card on the new Fury-Hunter date.

Taylor vacates IBF title

Top Rank has told the IBF that Josh Taylor is vacating the organization’s junior welterweight world title and Jeremais Ponce (30-0, 20 KOs), 26, of Argentina, and Subriel Matias (18-1, 18 KOs), 30, of Puerto Rico, have been ordered to negotiate to fight for the belt, an IBF spokesperson told Fight Freaks Unite on Wednesday.

Taylor’s decision comes as no surprise as the IBF on Monday canceled a purse bid set for Tuesday for his mandatory defense against Ponce.

Taylor, who became the four-belt undisputed champion in May 2021 by outpointing Jose Ramirez, has slowly seen three of his sanctioning body belts become vacant after the IBF, WBC and WBA all ordered mandatory defenses that Taylor could not do at the same time.

Taylor, who still holds the WBO belt and The Ring magazine title, all along has been targeting a rematch with Jack Catterall rather than going to forward with any of the mandatory defenses.

A rematch with Catterall (26-1, 13 KOs), 29, of England, whom Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs), 31, of Scotland, won a highly controversial split decision against in February, is by far the biggest fight for him compared to any of the mandatory bouts.

Andrade vacates, headed to 168

As expected Demetrius Andrade has vacated the WBO middleweight title after five successful defenses and will move up to super middleweight, where the WBO has re-approved a fight between Andrade and Zach Parker for the organization’s vacant interim title.

It notified both camps on Tuesday that the fight had been approved and gave them 10 days to make a deal. If there is no deal, the WBO will schedule a purse bid. Minimum bid would be $300,000. Either side can forego the negotiating period and ask for an immediate purse bid.

In the letter, the WBO stipulated that “if the parties cannot reach an agreement and purse bid proceedings are ordered, Demetrius Andrade and Zach Parker must manifest in writing to the WBO within 48 hours upon the adjudication of the purse bid whether they will participate in the mandated bout accordingly.”

Also, the WBO said that it “reserves the right to order that the winner of the Andrade/Parker bout face in his next fight the mandatory challenger and/or interim champion of any of the other recognized sanctioning organizations.”

Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs), 34, a southpaw from Providence, Rhode Island, was ordered last month to face interim middleweight titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly. Facing short money for a dangerous fight and claiming to have issues making 160 pounds, Andrade elected to vacate and move up.

When Andrade was originally ordered to face Alimkhanuly earlier this year, he elected to instead seek the interim super middleweight title fight and was scheduled to fight Parker (22-0, 16 KOs), 28, of England, on May 21 in England. But the fight was canceled when Andrade injured his shoulder a few weeks before the fight, at which point the WBO withdrew its sanction. That sanction was reinstated this week at Andrade’s request.

Alimkhanuly (12-0, 8 KOs), 29, a 2016 Olympian from Kazakhstan, who claimed the vacant interim middleweight belt via second-round destruction of Danny Dignum on May 21 in Las Vegas, will be elevated to the full titleholder.

Quick hits

The heavyweight fight between top contenders Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker, set for Sept. 24 at AO Arena in Manchester, England, will stream live on ESPN+ (2 p.m. ET) in the United States, Top Rank, which acquired U.S. rights, announced Wednesday. That makes official what Fight Freaks Unite reported when the fight was announced earlier this month. England’s Joyce (14-0, 13 KOs), 36, and former WBO titlist Parker (30-2, 21 KOs), 30, of New Zealand, meet for the right to become the WBO mandatory challenger. Seven-division champion Amanda Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs), 33, of Brooklyn, New York — the WBC/WBO women’s featherweight titleholder — meets IBF titlist Sarah Mahfoud (11-0, 3 KOs), 32, of Denmark, in a unification bout in the co-feature.

The WBA on Wednesday ordered cruiserweight titlist Arsen Goulamirian (26-0, 18 KOs), 34, of France, to next face mandatory challenger Aleksei Egorov (11-0, 7 KOs), 31, of Russia. Goulamirian had been ordered to face regular titlist Ryad Merhy as part of the organization’s title reduction plan but Merhy recently vacated to move up in weight and Egorov was next in line. They have until Sept. 7 to make a deal and if they don’t a purse bid will be ordered.

Golden Boy announced it has re-signed lightweight Oscar Duarte (23-1-1, 18 KOs), 26, of Mexico, to a multi-year deal. “I am feeling very hungry to show the world who Oscar Duarte is,” said Duarte, who has won eight fights in a row since a split decision loss to Adrian Estrella in 2019. “I am coming into this with firm steps and everything I have inside of me. I have momentous gratitude for (Golden Boy CEO) Oscar De La Hoya and all of the Golden Boy team for trusting me and for the opportunity to be a part of their great company.”

Irish junior middleweight prospect Callum Walsh (4-0, 3 KOs), 21, returns to face an opponent to be determined in the eight-round headliner of a 360 Promotions’ “Hollywood Fight Nights” card on Nov. 3 (UFC Fight Pass) at the Quiet Cannon Country Club in Montebello, California, promoter Tom Loeffler announced. Walsh also headlined the previous card on Aug. 4 and scored a six-round shutout decision (with a knockdown) against Benjamin Whitaker.

Show and tell

The late Diego “Chico” Corrales won world titles at junior lightweight and lightweight, where he was a unified champion. He was a tremendous puncher, had a huge heart and was one of the most exciting fighters of his time. He knocked out Robert Garcia (now the great trainer) to take his junior lightweight title in 1999 and also knocked out Derrick Gainer and Angel Manfredy among his title defenses before suffering his first loss, a knockout to Floyd Mayweather in the fight I consider Mayweather’s finest performance. Corrales then was out of the ring for two years because of a prison sentence for domestic abuse and also had well-documented issues making weight after his return. But he had a memorable trilogy with Joel Casamayor, a stirring comeback knockout of Acelino “Popo” Freitas to win a lightweight title and, of course, unified lightweight titles by stopping Jose Luis Castillo by making a hugely dramatic comeback from two knockdowns in the 10th round to stop Castillo later in the round to win perhaps the greatest fight of all time.

Corrales would lose his next three fights, including a rematch to the overweight Castillo, and retire. Sadly, Corrales would die at age 29 in a drunken motorcycle crash on May 7, 2007 — two years to the day after his epic victory over Castillo. He was born on Aug. 25, 1977 and would have turned 45 on Thursday, which happens to also be my birthday. Here is Corrales’ rookie card from the 2001 Brown’s Boxing set, which I wrote the back for, in my collection.

Fury photo: Queensberry Promotions; Lomachenko and Taylor photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Andrade photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing

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