TYSON FURY has been hit with a double blow in his search for a summer return fight.
The Gypsy King is looking to defend his WBC title in July after talks for a unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk collapsed earlier in the year.
Now, Usyk, 36, has been ordered into a WBA mandatory defence against Daniel Dubois, 25, with talks ongoing.
It left Andy Ruiz Jr and Zhilei Zhang as frontrunners to face Fury.
But Joe Joyce has exercised his rematch clause with Zhang and Frank Warren told Boxing News that Ruiz has priced himself out.
It leaves the Hall of Fame promoter heading back to the drawing board.
He said: “I want to get him [Fury] out whatever happens and get back in the swing of things. It’s just a bloody shame we wasted so much time [on the Usyk fight].
“The problem we’ve got is the ones we wanted are all fighting.
“The Zhang fight, Joe Joyce, I wouldn’t have gone with Joe next, he’ll have to get a win first and obviously Daniel.
“We’ll have a look around and see what’s available.”
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Joyce, 37, was beaten by Zhang, 40, in April after his eye was swollen so badly the referee waved off the contest.
The Chinese star then emerged as a contender to fight Fury, 34, until Joyce activated his right to a rematch.
And with Ruiz, 33, also now seemingly out of the equation, it leaves Warren short of options but adamant Fury WILL still fight.
He said: “We’re getting very close [to summer], that’s part of the problem, but we’ll get him out.”
Meanwhile, talks are taking place behind the scenes with boxing bosses in Saudi Arabia.
They hope to negotiate a deal for Anthony Joshua, 33, to fight Deontay Wilder, 37, in the Middle East in December.
And they also have plans for Fury and Usyk to finally meet, as US promoter Bob Arum confirmed talks with the Saudis.
Arum told Ringside Reporter Live: “I have talked to a representative of Skill Challenge that puts on these boxing events in Saudi Arabia.
“That is correct [that talks are ongoing], we know these people, we work with them in connection with the Jake Paul and Tommy Fury fight as far as US television was concerned.
“So we know who the players are and we’ve had some very interesting talks with them.”
