Tyson Fury knows what it’s like to share the ring with Deontay Wilder and has now commented on the possible fight between him and Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury and Wilder fought a total of three times, and each of the contests was epic in its own right. The first saw Fury step into the lion’s den after a long layoff and put on an impressive display that many people think deserved to get him a win, but instead it ended in a draw after Fury was caught late but rose from the canvas in iconic style in the 12th round.
The next two saw him batter and bruise Wilder on the way to two KO wins before then challenging Usyk for the undisputed title. He lost the first fight and the rematch went the same way, which led him to retire a year ago, though he is now back in the ring and looking to make a return.
Speaking to DAZN, Fury reacted to the news that Usyk now wants to fight Wilder, despite the American recently looking well past his best. ‘The Gypsy King’ said that Usyk was simply calling out a big name to secure a big purse, and that he should vacate his WBC belt for the top contenders to now get their shot.
“Agit Kabayel is [WBC] interim champion, so they should force Usyk to either defend or vacate. Me personally, I don’t think Usyk’s gonna fight anybody in those WBC rankings, because it doesn’t make any commercial sense. There’s no money in them fights.
“Is he gonna get paid for fighting Agit Kabayel? Is he gonna get paid for fighting Lawrence Okolie? No. When you’ve fought Tyson Fury and had GK money, you’re not going back down to fight anybody else for f–k all. So I can’t see Usyk defending against any of those names.
“That’s why he’s looking to fight a Wilder, or somebody with a popular name with a following. So, just like he vacated the WBO, he must vacate the WBC, and Agit will be upgraded to world champion. He can defend against the winner of [Lawrence] Okolie and [Moses] Itauma.”
