As recently as last summer, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk looked destined to be the latest victims of heavyweight boxing's undisputed curse.
Fury had reigned as world champion for three years after knocking out Deontay Wilder while Usyk had dethroned Anthony Joshua before outclassing him again in their rematch. Brits Fury and Joshua had been on the verge of signing for a blockbuster showdown in 2021 before Fury was instead forced to complete his trilogy with Wilder.
The American himself had failed to agree terms with Joshua when they shared the sport's ultimate prize. And early last year, Fury's proposed showdown with Usyk became another casualty when talks to host the fight at Wembley broke down at the 11th hour.
Usyk had been stretched to breaking point by Fury's demands having accepted just 30 per cent of the total fight purse. But he baulked at the terms on offer for a rematch and walked away from the terse negotiations.
"If somebody had said to me last August that we’d be doing this I’d say, 'Yeah, alright,' says Fury's promoter Frank Warren. "I couldn't have envisaged being here because the fight wasn't happening." A fight between Fury and Usyk was heading the same way as a string of undisputed showdowns since Lennox Lewis ruled in 1999.
"It was only maybe a year ago that I was retiring from boxing," says Fury. "The Usyk fight at Wembley didn’t happen, there were no other big fights. It was like I had come to the end of my tether with it all." But the Saudi Arabian authorities stepped in and a four-hour meeting paved the way for a sudden announcement last September.
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And at the third attempt after delays in December and February, Fury will attempt to complete his remarkable return which began when he weighed almost 30 stone in 2018. "When he called me about the comeback we had a meeting and it was still there," recalls Warren, who took a gamble on Fury after rival promoter Eddie Hearn had passed on the opportunity. "I could see there was a spark there in him. He wanted it and he was determined. He has done bloody brilliantly; he has turned his life around in a big way.
"He has been one of our best boxers and has gone out and done everything that has been asked of him, overcoming demons that most people would never have overcome, let alone go and fight. He was a drug addict and a boozer and all that s*** and he’s come out of it and gone and won fights, won the title, gone in people’s backyards and done it.
"Here we are again, he’s fighting a guy who is undefeated. These are two guys in their prime and very rarely in the past 30 or 40 years have heavyweights at their best fought each other. This is happening and it’s a tremendous fight. It’s going to be a major moment in sporting history, not boxing history, sporting history."
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