By: Sean Crose
WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk has made it clear that he wants to fight Tyson Fury to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Fury is, after all, the WBC heavyweight and heavyweight champion of the world. Usyk is well aware that, in order to become king of the heavy hill, he must first overcome Fury. Therefore, the desire to meet the British tennis player is high in the ring. Usyk’s final bout was an impressive second win over Anthony Joshua, with whom he had won the heavyweight titles from a year earlier. As for Fury, he was last seen in the ring against longtime rival Dillian Whyte.
“Right now my team is looking for conversations with Tyson Fury,” Usyk said at Libson during Web Summit, “and he’s really unpredictable, so we’re not. when can be guaranteed. Now, Fury is set to take on another longtime contender, Derek Chisora, next month in the UK. It will be the third fight between the two men. Fury won first and second, and one wondered if he was fighting Chisora again. On the other hand, Fury probably wants to stay busy after talks about a big fight with Joshua recently fell through.
“For me, the idea would be to fight maybe in early February or early March, like March 4th,” says Usyk, “because I am an orthodox Christian.” That means devout Usyk’s time for an early 2023 battle is limited. “During the great fasting before Easter, I don’t fight,” says Usyk, so it all has to be before or after orthodox Easter. “The orthodox Easter will take place on April 16 next year. While it’s easy to see why Usyk would want to face Fury sooner rather than later, he went ahead and made his reasoning clear.
“I want to fight Fury because I need a fourth belt,” he said, “and I don’t want to fight anyone else until I have a fourth.” For what it’s worth, Usyk believes the Fury-Chisora fight is ridiculous. “I don’t know why he needs this fight,” he said. There is little doubt, however, that Fury has something in common with Usyk – his desire to be undisputed. Legendary Lennox Lewis was the last man to become an unquestionable heavyweight champion. There hasn’t been an undisputed champion in the heavyweight division since 2000 – over 22 years ago. Suffice to say, it’s been a while.
