By Jeff Aronow: Oleksandr Usyk says he’s going to “SMASH” promoter Eddie Hearn for his desire to try and set up a fight between IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder trilogy fight on July 18. Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) is the mandated WBO challenger to Joshua, and he’s supposed to be next for AJ.
The only way Joshua can bypass Usyk is one of two methods:
- Giving Usyk a step aside fee that he agrees to
- The WBO letting Joshua take the unification fight with Fury over Usyk
Before Joshua and Usyk can potentially meet up in December of this year, they both need to win their preliminary fights.
Chisora will be looking to upset the applecart
Joshua will be defending against his IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) on June 20 in London, England. He’s expected to beat Pulev without any real issues. Pulev is a good fighter, but he’s old at 38, and he’s got little in the way of punching power.
For his part, the 33-year-old Usyk will be facing war horse Dereck Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) on May 23 at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Usyk by far has the harder task of the two in fighting the hard-hitting Chisora, who is going to be putting a lot of pressure on him all night. It’s impossible to rule out an upset in that fight because the 245-lb Chisora is a legitimate heavyweight, and he hits harder with a lot more experience at this level.
This might be Chisora’s last chance to earn a big money fight against Joshua. If Chisora can beat Usyk, it’s assumed that the WBO will bestow upon him the new mandatory position to challenge Joshua.
Usyk wants his mandated title shot against Joshua
The way Usyk is talking, he doesn’t appear to be pliable when it comes to letting Joshua bypass him to face Fury, and it’s understandable why. Usyk can arguably make more money fighting Joshua than Fury.
Additionally, it’s a matter match-up for Usyk against Joshua than him facing the 6’9″ Fury. But above all, it’s better for Usyk if Joshua and Fury DON’T face each other first because then one of them will be weeded out.
“I didn’t see weakness, I didn’t see slowness in him. and I just took that fight because I need that fight, I want that fight, and I’m going to be boxing,” said Usyk to Behind The Gloves on his May 23 fight against Dereck Chisora.
“I don’t care what he’s going to bring. And I worry about what I’m going to bring into the ring, and I’m going to bring a lot. I want very, very much Anthony Joshua will win,” said Usyk when asked about his thoughts on the June 20 fight between AJ and Kubrat Pulev.
If Usyk faces Joshua next, then he can go ahead and fight the still unbeaten Fury afterward. It is an all-around better situation for Usyk than if Joshua and Fury fight each other and one of them is beaten.
Joshua can always VACATE his WBO title if Usyk forces the issue to face him, but that would be a bad look on his part. Unfortunately, that may happen, because Hearn has already talked of that scenarios happen if the WBO tries to force him to fight Usyk next. Hearn badly wants Joshua to fight the winner of the July 18th Fury-Wilder III fight, which he’s already assuming will be Fury.
Eddie Hearn is getting SMASHED – Usyk
“I wasn’t surprised because, after the third round, I saw where it was going. Everything went where it was supposed to,” said Usyk on his thoughts about Tyson Fury’s recent victory over Deontay Wilder.
“I like the way he acts, I like the way he prepares himself, but I think everything is planned,” said Usyk about Fury. “A lot of people think he’s playing dummy, but everything is organized and planned. What he says about him beating me with one arm tied behind his back. I can cover my eyes, and tie one of my hands and hold one of my legs.
“I’m going to go find and SMASH Eddie Hearn because he’s talking like that,” said Usyk when told that Hearn wants to set up a fight between the winner of the Fury vs. Wilder trilogy match against Joshua next.
“Of course, they’re talking about it because it’s two British guys. They’re more popular than I am here. Of course, the promotion would be a crazy, crazy idea, but I’m going to do what I need to do. I’m going to go on my road,” said Usyk.
It would be a good idea for Usyk to be prepared for Joshua to vacate his WBO title if he insists on fighting him in December because AJ wants to fight the Fury vs. Wilder 3 contest in the worst way and Hearn feels the same. Usyk is a potential banana skin for Joshua, and Hearn knows that. The WBO title is expendable compared to the green that Joshua and the adoration that he’ll receive from the boxing world in beating the Fury-Wilder 3 winner.
Chisora wants to take Usyk’s golden ticket from him
“He’s got the golden ticket, so I want to take his golden ticket,” said Chisora to skysports.com. “Basically everything I’m going to do is for me to take what he has, and make it mine. I believe the way he can win this fight is by him knocking me out, but that’s not going to happen. I’m going to keep coming and keep coming.”
If Chisora can beat Usyk to take his WBO mandatory spot, he’ll have a huge bargaining chip to get the big money fight against Joshua. Even if Joshua chooses to vacate his WBO title to face the Fury-Wilder trilogy winner, Chisora will be waiting to fight the eventual winner of those fights when the smoke clears. We’re talking big money for Chisora in being the last man standing.
At the end of it all, Chisora would then face Usyk in a rematch, and make even more money. All of it begins with Chisora beating Usyk. He needs to do that to put himself in a position to fight Joshua, Fury or Wilder. Ideally, it would be great if Joshua doesn’t vacate his WBO title, but you can’t put it past him to do that. He wants to fight the winner of the Fury vs. Wilder fight in the worst way, and the WBO isn’t going to stop him from making that a reality.