World heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury has said Abu Dhabi is on a shortlist of five destinations that could host his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.
Fury, 27, achieved the previously unthinkable in November last year by defeating Klitschko in Germany to claim the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring Heavyweight titles.
Klitschko immediately activated the rematch clause in the contract, and while there is no fixed date for the bout, Fury has revealed a list of countries and cities that are in the mix to hold the event.
Along with the UAE capital, Croke Park in Dublin, London’s Wembley Stadium, Qatar, and various locations in Germany are all options, according to Fury.
"There are five possible venues," he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. "I'm hoping it's not going to go back to Germany. I'd rather go to Abu Dhabi or Qatar than there."
Video: Wilder retains WBC heavyweight title with brutal KO before Fury crashes ring
Another, more alternative offer that has been made, Fury claimed, came from Dubai and the chance to host the fight on a super yacht.
“We even had negotiations to have it on a cruise ship,” he said. “There was a Sheikh in Dubai who owned a yacht which would fit only 120 people on. He didn’t want to broadcast the fight anywhere and he said he could sell 120 tickets at $1 million (Dh3.67m) each, so that would have been $120m.
“He wanted to have an exclusive heavyweight championship of the world fight with no TV station, with just those 120 people watching. He didn’t say how much I would get, but I probably would have had the biggest half of the $120 million — so I was all for it. I don’t think it’s possible now, but it would have been an epic story.”
On the rematch itself, Fury is expecting a bigger challenge from Klitschko than the one he faced in November when he easily outpointed the Ukrainian.
“Klitschko has got a point to prove,” he said. “I think he is going to try and knock me out this time. Either he knocks me out or I knock him out. Simple. But there is nothing scheduled at all. And if anything is in the works, I don’t know about it.”
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport