By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury wants people to be clear on the subject that he has ZERO interest in fighting Oleksandr Usyk at all period before he retires after 3 more fights. Sounding kind of snooty, Fury dismissed the possibility of fighting Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) by telling IFL TV that he’s a “no name” and “doesn’t speak good English.” Fury further that the world heavyweight titles are in the “west” and they’ll stay there.
The way that Fury speaks about Usyk, it came across like he wasn’t including him in his exclusive, elitist club. Fury says he’s got 3 fights left before he retires from the sport, and the fights he wants are against these heavyweights:
- Deontay Wilder
- Anthony Joshua
- Dillian Whyte
Oleksandr Usyk isn’t on Fury’s 3-fight list
“Usyk isn’t on the list. He’s a no name. No one is interested. He doesn’t make any money,” said Fury to IFL TV when asked if he’d like to fight him. “Why would I want to fight him for? He’s a small cruiserweight, a foreigner who doesn’t speak good English, and no one is really interested anyway. I want the big fights that people are interested in, and that ain’t one of them,” said Fury.
It’s interesting that Fury is bringing up Usyk’s lack of English skills as an excuse not to fight. Wladimir Klitschko didn’t have the best English, and Fury was more than willing to fight him in 2015.
Contrary to what Fury says about no one being interested in seeing a fight between him and Usyk, he’s wrong. There’s a lot of boxing fans that are eager to see Usyk and Fury fight, and there will be even more if he beats Anthony Joshua.
Usyk is the WBO mandatory for Joshua’s World Boxing Organization strap, and there’s a chance that he fights him in 2020. You can’t rule out Usyk beating Joshua, who lost last year to Andy Ruiz Jr.
Although Joshua avenged the loss, he was forced to use movement to get it done, and it was boring to watch. Joshua essentially scavenged Wladimir’s old fighting style and resurrected it. A lot of boxing fans wished Joshua had left that style behind.
Fury says facing Usyk wouldn’t be a big fight
“Still it wouldn’t be a big fight,” said Fury when asked if he would be willing to fight Usyk if he beat Anthony Joshua. “It’s still a foreigner in a westernized world. The belts are back in the West, and they’re going to stay there. For whatever it sounds like, the heavyweight championship should be from Britain or America or nowhere else.
“That’s it, because maybe in Ukraine he [Usyk] might be a big star, but Britain and American ain’t interested in some Ukrainian boxing. That’s the way it is. The heavyweight champion of the world needs to be in the west, and that’s it. That’s how it goes,” said Fury.
Well, you can’t say that Fury isn’t being honest about his feelings about a fight with Usyk. What Fury is saying about why he won’t fight Usyk won’t go over well with the boxing public, but at least he’s not hiding his thoughts. Dismissing Usyk and referring to him as a “foreigner” is an odd way of ducking a fight with him. It’s not as if Fury isn’t viewed as a foreigner by Americans.
Fight with Joseph Parker of no interest for Fury
“I have no interest in fighting Joe [Parker] at all. What am I going to get out of it?” said Fury. “It wouldn’t mean anything, because all those world titles, I already own them all,” said Fury when asked if he would be willing to fight Parker if he won all the world titles.
“Their mine, and they’re coming home. So a belt doesn’t really mean anything. I know I’ve said this many times. I only have three fights left, and Joseph Parker ain’t one of them. That’s it. No,” Fury said when asked if Oleksandr Usyk is one of the last 3 fights he has left.
Parker is a long shot to recapture his WBO title. If Joshua vacates the WBO belt rather than fight Usyk, then that belt will be fought over by Parker and Oleksandr. Parker is a good fighter, but he fails when he steps it up against good opposition. Usyk might be able to outbox Parker in the same way Joshua did.
