Tyson Fury's promoter Bob Arum has let slip that Anthony Joshua is going to fight Oleksandr Usyk on April 4 of 2022.
The veteran boxing promoter, who runs Top Rank promotions, was speaking about Fury's future prospects of world title unification when he accidentally released the date of the highly anticipated rematch.
Joshua last weekend officially triggered his rematch clause to face Usyk for a second time, just hours before Tyson Fury would knock out Deontay Wilder in their trilogy fight for the WBC heavyweight title.
The other heavyweight belts were won by Usyk from Joshua in London last month, but the Brit had an immediate rematch clause which has been exercised, and it appears there is already a date in mind.
“Joshua and Usyk, I think they’re going to wait until April 4,” Arum said in an interview with FightHub.
“I think Fury will fight again in March or April. Then we can look to a September or October match for a unification.”
And Arum has explained that his offer for Joshua to step aside to allow Fury to fight Usyk for the undisputed title was turned down by his promoter Eddie Hearn as he felt there wouldn't be an appetite for step aside money in the Joshua side.
But he feels that it's the wrong decision, given that Joshua is a heavy underdog heading into the second bout after Usyk's convincing victory in the first outing.
“Eddie thought Joshua wouldn’t be amenable to a step aside and would want to do the rematch,” Arum continued.
“Which is sort of stupidity on his part because no way is he going to beat Usyk in his next fight no matter what new strategy he deploys.
"[Usyk is] too talented, and he’s a little chinny, Joshua is.
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“The only way you’re going to beat Usyk is to pin him and corner him with your high weight and pressure him.
"But then he can unload against you. Now, a Tyson Fury can absorb that, as we all know, but Anthony Joshua has a suspect chin.”
Fury will first have to fight Dillian Whyte, assuming he can get through Otto Wallin in London this month, in a mandatory title defence before he can take on the winner of Usyk's rematch with Joshua.
He was set to fight Joshua in an undisputed bout this summer, with Saudi Arabia the host country funding record-breaking purses for both men.
But the fight was cancelled when Fury was ordered in arbitration to face Wilder for a third time, which saw both Brits lose out on a chance for a monstrous payday.
Joshua instead was ordered to face mandatory challenger Usyk, who he lost to at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London last month, while Fury viciously knocked out Wilder at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
