Tyson Fury to announce fight next week - but warns it will not be against Oleksandr Usyk

Tyson Fury has said that he plans to announce a fight next week – but warned that it will not be a unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk.

The Briton has been linked with a clash with Usyk after the Ukrainian beat Anthony Joshua for a second time last month to retain his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight belts in Saudi Arabia.

Fury's promoter Frank Warren had said that a bout with Usyk is “the only fight” Fury wants, and the Englishman had set a deadline of September 1 for the respective parties to make the matchup happen.

Warren also revealed that the Middle East would again be a strong contender to host the fight but that September deadline has been and gone and Fury says that he will not be waiting on Usyk.

“I said 'let’s do the fight this year, wherever they want to do it'. I’ve been waiting for countries to come forward,” the 34-year-old – whose record stands at 32 wins from 33 bouts with one draw – said.

“All of a sudden Oleksandr Usyk has stated he does not want to fight any more – he wants to fight next year not this year.

“I am not going to wait around for anybody and I will be announcing a fight next week.”

Fury was speaking at a news conference following an appearance at WWE's 'Clash at the Castle' in Cardiff.

Gallery: Usyk beats Joshua for second time

“At the moment I am a heavyweight world champion and I have lots of fights I have to take care of in the next few years,” Fury added, while admitting he would “definitely be open to” joining WWE full-time in the future.

“I have a passion for WWE. Never say never [on a permanent move to the organisation].”

Usyk, meanwhile, admitted on Friday that any fight with Fury would not be happening in 2022.

“It won't happen this year, that's for sure,” Usyk, who has 20 wins from 20 pro fights, told the BBC.

“As I said earlier … I'm totally healthy and don't have any injuries, but I have old traumas which have resurfaced, and which need to be treated. I will need up to two months to recuperate.”

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Graduated from the American University of Sharjah

She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters

Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks

Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Tyson Fury to announce fight next week - but warns it will not be against Oleksandr Usyk

Unification bout put on hold as undefeated Brit plans next move without Ukrainian

Gallery: Usyk beats Joshua for second time

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