By: Sean Crose
Oleksandr Usyk is currently in the US, at least in part to raise money for his war-torn homeland of Ukraine. On Saturday, the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight appeared at the Theater in Madison Square Garden to watch his compatriot Vasyl Lomachenko take on Jamaine Ortiz in a main event broadcast on ESPN+ . Speaking to ESPN’s Mark Kriegal, 20-0 multi-title winner Usyk was asked about team-heavyweight, WBC and heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who will be up against longtime rival Derek Chisora. for the third time this December. “That makes me a little funny about it,” Usyk said through manager Egis Klimas. “Why is he doing this?”
Usyk later made it clear that he believed he and Fury were ready to fight in the near future. “I think we agreed with him, fight,” he said of Fury, “and now he’s running saying I don’t want to fight.” When Kriegal asked Usyk if he thought Fury was avoiding him, Usyk couldn’t be more specific. “I know that.” Of course, this kind of talk is common in fighting games. In fact, trash talk has always been, or at least has been since the late 1800s, a part of the sport. However, Usyk is not known to be the mouth runner type.
However, Usyk has no intention of discarding Fury’s skills as a fighter. “He’s in danger,” he said of the towering Briton. “He’s big, he’s huge, he’s very smart. He knows what to do in the ring. He’s dangerous.” It’s not that Usyk showed the least alarm when finally facing Fury in the ring. “Yes, I want to fight him,” he said, “and we need to unify all the titles.” So when Usyk feels the fury with Fury will really subside.” “I think it will be late February, early March,” he said.
Provided that Fury defeats Chisora in an early December bout, a fight with Usyk would make world sense. In fact, this was really the only battle that mattered to each gladiator. Ultimately, the winner will become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. It’s worth noting, however, that a lot can happen between now and the first quarter of 2023. The fact that Usyk’s hometown is in the middle of a bloody war with Russia is a dark testament to that fact. . Sometimes, even an undisputed heavyweight title fight has to be viewed from a different perspective.
