More from the press conference for the Oleksandr Usyk-Daniel Dubois fight in Poland. Alex Krassyuk, manager of reigning and defending WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champ Usyk spoke about Tyson Fury. Again.
Krassyuk has of course been hugely critical of Fury ever since the big four-belt unification fight with his guy Usyk fell apart – Krassyuk firmly believing, as do others, that this was Fury’s fault and nobody else’s.
Krassyuk, speaking about Fury’s expected (but as of yet still not officially announced) exhibition with MMA star Francis Ngannou, said that the fight was “not a fight,” merely “a performance.” And Krassyuk says Fury “has to be stripped” of the WBC heavyweight title.
“Fight? You call that a fight? It’s a performance, an exhibition, it’s not a fight,” Krassyuk said of Fury Vs. Ngannou when speaking with Secondsout. “The fight is when you have the undisputed heavyweight title at stake, that’s a fight. When you’re fighting Ngannou, you’re earning money and entertaining the public, that’s all. He’s not actually breaking any rules of the WBC, but from a pure sports point of view he has to be stripped because he stays inactive for so long and he’s cheating people, announcing fights that don’t take place.”
Krassyuk is not the only person to have come out and said that Fury – who last made a mandatory title defence of the WBC title 15 months ago, this against Dillian Whyte in April of last year – should be stripped of the belt. In light of how much time has gone by since Fury made a mandatory defence, should he actually be stripped? That’s a good question to ask WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, let’s put it that way.
Again, the Fury-Ngannou exhibition bout has not yet been officially announced, but plenty of people feel it will be soon. If it is, is this the “fight” promoter Frank Warren recently referred to as a “game-changer?” Maybe you agree with Krassyuk, and feel the seemingly impending “fight” is actually a show, a spot of entertaining the public, and nothing more?
Fury was given a pass when he fought Derek Chisora in that needless trilogy fight in December, this his last real fight. But will fight fans be willing to give Fury another pass if he does face Ngannou next?
What do YOU guys think – should Tyson Fury be stripped of the WBC heavyweight belt?
