Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury could benefit from the US-UK travel ban, says Bob Arum
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury could be forced together by a travel ban between the US and UK, according to promoter Bob Arum.
Fury is scheduled to face Deontay Wilder in a third WBC heavyweight championship fight but they are each in their home countries, the UK and the US respectively, an added logistical headache amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"With or without audiences, we can't do [the third fight] while Fury can't get back into the United States due to the travel ban. Wilder couldn't get into England either," Fury's US-based Top Rank promoter Arum exclusively told Sky Sports.
Fury ended Wilder's lengthy title reign earlier this year in their second fight, after a dramatic draw when they originally met in December 2018.
Asked if travel logistics could lead to Fury instead facing his fellow Brit, the IBF, WBA and WBO champion Joshua, then revisiting his Wilder rivalry next year, Arum said: "Everything is possible.
"We are all operating in territory where nobody has experience. I'm 88 but I've never had the experience to deal with this. We're feeling our way.
"But everything is possible and nothing is off the table. We have to sit and discuss this, to figure out how to move into the future.
"I can't predict when Fury vs Wilder will take place or if it will happen.
"Everybody in the UK wants to see the two Brits fighting, Fury and Joshua. When can that happen? I don't know. I also promote Kubrat Pulev and we're talking next week to Eddie Hearn about how to do [Joshua vs Pulev]."
Joshua is scheduled to defend his belts against mandatory challenger Pulev next.
"This is not a normal situation where the promoter has all the answers," Arum said.
Staging boxing events without spectators is a leading option for promoters on both sides of the Atlantic.
But Arum warned: "If we do fights without audiences, how do you do Fury vs Wilder without an audience? The live gate for the last fight accounted for almost $17m. How do you replace that?
"Hopefully by the winter they will allow people to attend sporting events."
Wilder had previously rejected speculation that he could come to an agreement to step away from his right to face Fury again, and enable Joshua to step in.
Wilder said: "Why wouldn't I want it?"
With neither Wilder or Pulev willing to step aside, it's hard to envisage a fight between Fury and Joshua too soon, despite the world calling for an undisputed title fight between the two Brits. There's also a long list of mandatory challengers waiting in the wings, with Oleksandr Usyk due his shot at AJ as the WBO #1, and Dillian Whyte eager for his long-awaited WBC mandatory shot, which he has been made to wait over 1,000 days for.
Eddie Hearn's regret over Fury
Promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed his regret about not signing Tyson Fury, a few months before the world heavyweight champion started his remarkable return.
Fury completed a sensational resurgence by defeating Deontay Wilder to claim the WBC title in February, but Hearn believes he could be working with the British star, if he had tied up a deal in November 2017.
Asked about the one fighter that got away, Hearn told 'Doing the Rounds,' "I mean you could say Tyson Fury.
"I had a chance to sign him. I was in Monaco, I think I could have signed him.
"I didn't want to give him the fights that he wanted to take at the time, because I thought it was just too much money and the fights weren't good enough – and I probably should have done it, to be honest with you.
"I looked at him and I thought, 'You ain't ever going to come back anyway, look at the size of you,' but he surprised everybody and how wrong I was.
"Fury is definitely up there, and there's a few others. A few American guys that I probably had the chance to sign as well."
Discussing his wish list of signings, Hearn added: "If I could sign three fighters right now in the world – I would sign Tyson Fury, I would sign Ryan Garcia, and I would sign Gervonta Davis."
Fury's career is guided by British and American promoters, along with his management team, and Hearn insists he is willing to bring all the individual parties together to thrash out terms for a massive fight with rival world champion Anthony Joshua.
"There's three people involved with Tyson Fury – MTK, Top Rank and Frank Warren," said Hearn.
"They've kind of like agreed amongst themselves that all three of those must be there and present when we have a proper chat, so at some point we will have to talk, and I have no problem on the phone, face-to-face.
"I'm not going to let a fight like that slip away, because we don't talk."
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