"We're looking at Andy Ruiz" - Bob Arum reveals who could replace Dillian Whyte to face Tyson Fury next
Tyson Fury, until recently, was hurtling towards a massive boxing fight against Dillian Whyte. However, as far as Bob Arum and Frank Warren are concerned, Whyte could very well make way for either Andy Ruiz or Robert Helenius.
This unsettling update emerges in the wake of a series of failed negotiations between the Whyte and Fury camps. Arum revealed that Tyson Fury and Co. were more than happy to offer Dillian Whyte a fight. However, he admitted that Whyte's side were being overly greedy when it came to the fight purse.
Bob Arum on Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte negotiations: "We've offered him a deal of 25%, with a guarantee. But he says he wants over $10million... We want the guarantee of $5/5½million against the percentage and they said, 'You've got to start with $10million.'" [@IFLTV]
While in conversation with iFL TV, Bob Arum revealed that they had offered Whyte an attractive purse deal. However, it was not enough for the latter, derailing the fight between the two.
"Frank Warren and I are looking for another opponent to do Fury's fight in Manchester or in Las Vegas, depending on who the opponent is. So we're looking at Andy Ruiz. This big Finnish kid who looked very good in the semi wind up on the Fury-Wilder fight card, Helenius, big big Finnish kid who can really fight and those are the two principal guys," said Bob Arum.
Tyson Fury's next win could pave the way to a fight against Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua
Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua are slated to run it back in April after Usyk recorded a massive upset win against 'AJ'. Bob Arum seemingly envisions a fight between Tyson Fury and the winner of the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua.
According to Arum:
“Tyson will just have to fight for the Ring Magazine title, he’ll save the [WBC] sanctioning fee money. Hopefully he’ll be successful, then Usyk and Joshua will have fought and the winner will be out there, and he’ll go on to fight them with or without the WBC title.
Arum's plan accounts for a scenario where Tyson Fury could go on to fight the winner between Usyk and 'AJ' after having vacated the WBC title for good. With the heavyweight division in flux, the year 2022 will offer fight fans a number of exciting fights inside the squared circle.
Catch the entire segment of iFL TV's interview with Bob Arum right here: