Oleksandr Usyk will target a mouthwatering showdown vs Deontay Wilder with a unification clash with Tyson Fury off the agenda for now.
Fury decided to move on and find a new opponent with Usyk preferring to wait until 2023 for a clash with ‘The Gypsy King’ – step forward Anthony Joshua.
And now, with Fury vs Joshua in the works for Saturday December 3, Usyk has decided to go in a different direction for his next opponent. Namely the big-punching former WBC heavyweight king Wilder.
In an interview with Ring magazine, Usyk said he was not “pissed off” that Fury had decided to fight Joshua. But he did not appear to be impressed either.
Usyk on Fury vs Joshua
“I don’t have many feelings about (Fury and Joshua fighting). I don’t really care if Fury wants to fight somebody. My team is working on getting me back in the ring,” said the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion.
“And no, no, I’m not pissed off at all (about being bypassed by Fury for Joshua). The bigger problem is Tyson Fury is not letting fans see one of the best historical bouts in boxing history. That’s his fault. Not mine. So, I’m not pissed off at all. Tyson Fury can fight whoever he wants to fight.
“From the standpoint of sportsmanship, of course it’s not correct (that Fury fight Joshua instead of him).”
Usyk, now back at home in war-turn Ukraine after defeating Joshua for a second time in their August rematch in Saudi Arabia, pinpointed ‘The Bronze Bomber’ as his next target.
He said: “Wilder is a dangerous fighter, and that fight would most likely be in the United States.”
Usyk (20-0 with 13 wins inside distance) is likely to be ringside when Wilder returns to action on October 15 in a WBC eliminator vs Robert Helenius at Barclays Center in New York. Wilder of course would need to prevail to set up that Usyk blockbuster.
A Usyk Wilder would add to an incredible schedule of great fights coming up – we have Canelo vs GGG 3 in Las Vegas on Saturday night, followed by the potential Crawford vs Spence clash in Las Vegas on November 19. Then of course that Fury vs Joshua megafight looms in early December.
