Pound for pound, King Oleksandr Usyk had time to reflect on Anthony Joshua throwing his title belts. The Ukrainian has now reacted more.
In a twist of events, Usyk says that Joshua acted like a petulant child when he grabbed his titles and threw them over the ropes.
The incident came moments after Usyk handed Joshua a second straight loss in Saudi Arabia.
In the process, Usyk cemented the IBF, WBA and WBO belts he won for AJ the previous September at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The pair of heavyweights embraced at the end of the antics. However, Usyk did not seem so forgiving in a later interview.
Anthony Joshua is a poor fool
He told Parimatch: “I thought, ‘What a poor fool!’
“It reminded me of a little boy who wanted to play with a ball. But they took it away. So he decided to throw it over the neighbor’s fence.”
The unified champion is taking a short break before staging his next fight. After initially declaring that he would like to fight Tyson Fury next year, Usyk’s team backed down after the “Gypsy King” opened talks with Joshua about a British matchup.
Manager Egis Klimas told Ring Magazine: “Usyk is the heavyweight champion of the world, and look how many statements Fury has made in the last couple of months.
“He retires and does not retire. She is fighting Usyk and not fighting Usyk. She is now fighting Joshua.
“You really don’t know what Fury is going to do next if you look at everything that’s happened in his past.
Tyson’s Unpredictable Fury
“Fury always caused a problem when it came to getting an undisputed world champion. It’s unpredictable.
“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. It has a belt. Who cares? It’s a situation created by Fury. Not Usyk.
“Usyk would fight Tyson Fury in his backyard. Usyk would fight anyone in his backyard.”
In response to reported ongoing negotiations between Fury and Joshua, Usyk added: “Well, if they sign the contract, they’ll be beating each other up for a while.
“But everyone is waiting for Usyk vs. Fury. I will not support either of them. I won’t even watch this fight, and I don’t want to.
The talented boxer joked, “Okay, I’m just kidding.”
fury against joshua
At present, Fury vs Joshua remains under a cloud until the issues in the discussions between the Brits are ironed out. The worrying thing for UK fans is that both fighters appear to have alternatives behind the scenes.
Sky Sports is already freezing in favor of BT Sport and DAZN, leading to more talk of how to maximize profits.
Fury looks set to take on Mahmoud Charr in a WBC heavyweight title defense. At the same time, former world champion and fellow Brit Joshua is set to face Zhilei Zhang in Beijing, China.
After beating American heavyweight Deontay Wilder in their third fight last October and former sparring partner Dillian Whyte in a Battle of Britain in April, Fury’s team never really identified a target. This scenario leaves all options on the table until his promoters, Frank Warren and Bob Arum, officially sign off on something for a comeback.
December 3 is booked at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium by Fury promoters. Meanwhile, Joshua’s management company, Matchroom Boxing and DAZN are still eyeing possible dates.
A rematch with Whyte remains another option for Joshua, who could embark on a three-fight world tour outside of his home country.
If successful, WBN understands that Anthony Joshua could return to Wembley in 2024 for another possible attempt at becoming a three-time world champion.
WBN editor Phil Jay has over ten years of boxing news experience. He follows WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews, Instagram and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
