Unified WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has broken his silence on the whole Tyson Fury saga. As fans know, the fight between the two, which would have had all four world titles on the line, ultimately collapsed, with many fingers pointing at Fury as the reason why. Now, speaking with Volodymyr Kobelkov, Usyk has stated how Fury was simply “trying to play us,” and that he was never actually serious about going through with the fight.
“I see [during negotiating] that nothing is going on, he is trying to play us, and I said, ‘That’s all, bye…,’” Usyk said. “He says, ’70-30, I am the king. It’s all thanks to me.’ I don’t respond to that. I understand that this is a mental game. The king is the king. And the king does not need to shout that he is the king. He is trying very hard to copy the great Muhammad Ali, but the copy is very bad.”
As has been pointed out multiple times, the fans were/are the biggest losers as far as the Usyk-Fury fight not happening. Usyk is now looking at his next fight, and he says he has no problem at all in going to the UK to fight his WBA mandatory challenger, Daniel Dubois.
“It will probably be Daniel Dubois at the end of the summer,” Usyk said regarding his next move. “I will go to Britain, I love it very much. My first big achievements were in Britain. Then Anthony Joshua. I like this place, I like the fans, the people.”
Fury as we know mocked the notion of Usyk “fighting Daniel Dubois at The Copper Box for a couple of million quid.” And it’s true, this fight is a let-down compared to the big one with Fury. But what else could Usyk do to make the fight with Fury? And where is Fury right now, and who will he fight next, if anyone?
Fury has been uncharacteristically quiet as of late, and there has even been some suggestion that he might retire. For good this time. The whole sorry Fury-Usyk saga sure cost Fury a good many fans, while at the same time, the way Usyk conducted himself saw him earn new fans.
How big a fight can a Usyk-Dubois fight be? Is Dubois anywhere near ready to challenge the brilliant southpaw from Ukraine?
