Tyson Fury is set to fight Oleksandr Usyk after sealing the “biggest boxing deal in history”.
The Gypsy King will finally put his heavyweight title on the line against the Ukrainian in a highly-anticipated unification bout on December 23 this year. The clash is expected to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, less than 48 hours before Christmas Day.
Fury and Usyk become the latest in a long line of elite sportspeople to take their talents to Saudi Arabia with the promise of an eye-watering pay-out. But the undefeated Brit has claimed his fight deal in the Middle-East dwarfs even the hundreds of millions being earned by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.
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Fury told The Sun: “All the biggest and best sports stars are now Saudi Arabia-bound,” he said. “The country is making big moves in sport and everything else.
“They are taking over boxing and any other sport that they want. They are paying big money for everything they get involved with.
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“I believe I have just done the biggest boxing deal in the history of boxing. I am not at liberty to talk about numbers. But it’s the biggest boxing deal ever done in history.
“The big football deals with Ronaldo and Neymar, it blows them out of the water. It’s big, big, big. After all, I am not a prize-fighter for brass buttons!”
Saudi Arabia has become a hub for elite sports in recent years, initially by staging the likes of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight title fights. It has since dominated the golf scene with LIV Golf and has made huge strides in football this year thanks to the explosion of the Saudi Pro League.
The nation became home to Ronaldo, Neymar and others such as Steven Gerrard, Sadio Mane and Karim Benzema by offering exorbitant salaries. The former Manchester United legend is currently earning a reported £173million-a-year until 2025, while the Brazilian is on £138m-per-year.
If true, Fury's bold claim would see him earn among the top five biggest ever boxing pay-outs at the very least. The current record belongs to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, whose eye-watering 2015 purse added up to £678m.
Usyk and Fury’s festive clash will see them finally square off, having been close to a deal back in April, only for talks to collapse. Contracts have now been signed by the pair this time, as Daily Star Sport understands they put pen to paper two weeks ago.
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