Usyk Says Fury is ‘Afraid’ to Fight Him for Undisputed; Plans to Fight Three More Times

Oleksandr Usyk believes that Tyson Fury wants nothing to do with him.

The unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion from Ukraine called Fury, the WBC champion, to a full unification fight last month, on the heels of defeating Anthony Joshua in their heavyweight title rematch. 12-round heavyweight in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Fury responded by saying he would oblige Usyk, but the two quickly hit a dead end: Fury wanted a fight by the end of the year, while Usyk, fresh from a tough fight, didn’t want to fight again until next year. .

Thereafter, Fury called Joshua out for an all-British superfight in December, and the two have been in talks for the past two weeks, though recent news suggests the fight is unlikely to happen.

Usyk, in a recent interview, expressed his contempt for Fury, suggesting the Manchester heavyweight is “afraid” to fight him.

“The thing is, everyone is waiting for the Usyk-Fury fight for the undisputed championship, which hasn’t happened in the heavyweight division,” Usyk said in a subtitled video posted on his Uysk17 YouTube channel. “Despite his toughness and how he’s generally portrayed, he (Fury) is scared.”

When asked if Usyk would see a possible Fury-Joshua fight, he replied: “No, I will not support either one. I’m not even going to watch this fight,” before making it clear that he was just kidding.

“No, it’s just that I want to get past Fury for now,” Usyk said. “The unification of the championship is much better and more important than a simple fight or a title defense.”

Usyk, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, said a routine title defense holds little appeal for him, hence his desire to fight Fury as soon as possible.

“Well, you know, I don’t want to work and box so much just for the defense itself,” Usyk said. “There’s a lot more to it than that and I can pull it off.”

Usyk said he imagines fighting at most three times before hanging up his gloves. That includes fights with Fury, a catchweight bout with undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez, and a final fight on his home turf at the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex in kyiv. Alvarez has expressed interest in fighting Usyk.

“After my last fight (with Joshua) I can fight at my best three times more at best,” Usyk said.

“With Furia, Canelo and the farewell fight at Olympiyski. Yes, with Cinnamon. He wanted to fight me. But it will be a ‘monster fight,’ just to make money.”