John Fury has watched his son fight both Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk and has now given his view on what might happen were the two to fight.
‘Big John’ has always been a big part of his son’s team, though has at times come in for criticism for giving poor corner advice mid-fight.
He has never been afraid to get involved in the verbal back and forth ahead of major fights, though he was also involved in a physical altercation with a member of Usyk’s team before one of their showdown’s last year.
Although he recently vacated his WBO belt rather than face his mandatory, Usyk is history’s only two-time undisputed ruler in the four-belt era and has said that in 2026, he would like to fight Wilder.
The American held the WBC belt for many years, knocking out every man he faced until he came up against ‘The Gypsy King’ and drew the first fight, then got stopped in the next two.
Speaking to Seconds Out, ‘Big John’ gave his view on the pair fighting in the future, saying in no uncertain terms that the American heavyweight is ‘done.’
“Wilder’s done. Wilder needs to retire before he ends up permanently damaged. Usyk, for me, is taking the p*ss wanting to fight Deontay Wilder. A man long past his best, he hasn’t a leg underneath him, he can’t take a shot anymore, he’s damaged material.
“Why take a liberty, why tread where the grass is low when you wouldn’t fight him when he was at his best? I wouldn’t embarrass myself wanting to fight a man like Deontay Wilder on Usyk’s ability.”
For his part, Wilder has said he would love to take the fight and get an opportunity to fight for a world title despite being long out of the picture and having lost to Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker after his defeats to Fury.
