By: Sean Crose
It won’t be for his WBC heavyweight title, but Bob Arum said Tyson Fury will be back in action this March. With that in mind, the Top Rated honcho doesn’t seem interested in beating Fury against unknown opponents. For former heavyweight multi-title athlete Andy Ruiz Jr and divisional contender Robert Helenius are on the agenda. The conclusion here is solid, especially when one considers Fury’s final fight – against arch-rival Deontay Wilder – to be an instant classic. “It’s as exciting a heavyweight match as you can get,” Arum told iFLTV in an interview posted on Tuesday. “It was definitely a highlight of the year.”
In the interview, Arum said he wants Fury to face longtime contender Dillian Whyte, but Whyte and his camp are conducting arbitration over the purse. “It’s unfortunate that Dillian Whyte could have that fight… .but from our point of view, they are very greedy with what they are asking for,” Arum said. “Really, Dillian Whyte and his men should come to the table and make a deal against Tyson Fury, the end of the story.” Seeing how that’s not happening, at least for the moment, Ruiz and Helenius are looking for opportunities to step up to the plate.
With that in mind, Arum said Fury’s next fight will be in “Manchester or in Las Vegas, depending on who the opponent is.” Breaking it down, the veteran promoter said: “We’re looking at Andy Ruiz as a possibility, he’s available.” He adds that “this big Finnish kid looks so good…on the Fury-Wilder card, Helenius” is also on the list. “It’s two principled people,” he said. “I guess if it’s Helenius we’ll do it in the UK and if it’s Ruiz we’ll fight in Las Vegas because Fury has loved himself so much to the American fan base.”
Fury’s third fight with Wilder took place last October and stunned a lot of people thanks to the sheer fight waged by the two fighters that night. With issues seemingly settled between him and Wilder, and with Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua looking to fight a second time for a heavyweight belt he doesn’t own, the British tennis player is towering. will want to stay busy. He’s also clearly looking for fights that won’t be walking in the park – at least not on paper.
