Tyson Fury has made his intentions clear: He plans to fight compatriot Anthony Joshua in December rather than wait for a showdown with Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Now it’s Usyk’s turn to make a move. He told RingTV.com that he wants to fight the winner of the Oct. 15 fight between Deonty Wilder and Robert Helenius.
Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) was stopped in his second and third fights with Fury, but remains dangerous due to his punching power. Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) is coming off back-to-back decisions over Joshua.
“Wilder is a dangerous fighter, and that fight will most likely be in the United States,” said Usyk, who plans to be ringside for Wilder-Helenius in Brooklyn.
Fury was expected to face Usyk to unify the four major heavyweight titles, but he went in a different direction, in part, because he understood that Usyk wouldn’t be available until next year. The Englishman did not want to wait so long to return to the ring.
However, Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, seemed to indicate that this was not true when he said, “Usyk wanted to fight Fury by the end of the year.” Fury also likely sees an all-British matchup with Joshua as a more lucrative event.
Usyk clearly doesn’t think much of his opponent’s decision.
“I’m not mad at all,” he said. “The biggest problem is that Tyson Fury is not letting the fans see one of the greatest historic fights in boxing history. That’s his fault. It is not mine. So I’m not pissed off at all. Tyson Fury can fight whoever he wants to fight.
“From the point of view of sportsmanship, of course it is not correct [that Fury isn’t fighting him].”
Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas, said his client had no choice but to pursue another opponent rather than wait to face the winner of the fight in December because one Fury-Joshua fight could lead to another.
Also, Klimas doesn’t want his client to go after Fury.
“What happens when Joshua beats him up?” Klimas said. “What will happen next? They will go to a rematch, which will delay the possibility of having an undisputed world champion. I think Fury is most likely afraid of Usyk. Why is he running away from Usyk? Why? Because Fury sees danger in Usyk.
“Usyk wanted to fight Fury by the end of the year. You know what, we’re not going to run after him. We have three belts. He has a belt. Who cares? It’s a situation created by Fury. Not Usyk.
Klimas also doesn’t know when to take Fury seriously.
“Usyk is the heavyweight champion of the world and look at how many statements Fury has made these last few months,” Klimas said. “He retreats, he doesn’t retreat, he fights Usyk, he’s not Usyk. And now he is fighting Joshua. You really don’t know what Fury is going to do next.
“If you look at his past, everything that happened, Fury always caused a problem when it came to getting an undisputed world champion. It’s unpredictable.
And Klimas landed one more blow on Fury.
“Usyk would like to fight Wilder, but whoever wins that fight will be next for Usyk,” he said. “Usyk is not like Fury. He is looking for the winners, not the losers.”
