By Charles Brun: Oleksandr Usyk and his promoter Alex Krassyuk will be on a scouting mission this Saturday night when WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury defends against Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in London.
Three-belt unified champion Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) and Krassyuk will be focusing on the unbeaten Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) in taking their notes, as he’s the favorite and is expected to come out victorious on the night over the underdog Whyte.
It’s important for Usyk to take as many notes as possible for this fight because the chances are high that it’s going to be him facing Fury next rather than Anthony Joshua, who he’ll be fighting this summer in late July.
Earlier today, Fury spoke of his fight with Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) being his last, but no one believes him. It’s likely a game Fury is playing to see how much the fans care for him.
“Definitely, yes [Usyk will watch Fury’s title defense against Whyte],” said Alex Krassyuk to Sky Sports about Usyk taking notes on Fury’s performance against Dillian Whyte.
“Egis Klimas [Usyk’s manager] and myself plan to attend the event and watch it from ringside. At Usyk’s training camp, he will watch and study the fight on TV,” said Krassyuk.
I don’t see the point of Usyk and Krassyuk going to the trouble to scout Fury’s fight with Dillian. At 33, Fury no longer has the ability to move his big 6’6″ frame around the ring like he did in his younger years, so he’s going to be mauling Whyte like he did against Deontay Wilder and Otto Wallin.
“He’s used to dealing with us, and we’re a lot more straightforward than some promoters out there,” said Eddie Hearn to talkSPORT when asked if Whyte will benefit by not helping promote the fight with Fury.
“He [Whyte] was under a lot of pressure to sign the contract because if he didn’t sign it by a deadline, he would have lost his opportunity to fight for a world title.
“There was a lot of stuff that was promised if the contract was signed. Frank Warren was right. There was a lot of stuff that he [Whyte] was asking for that isn’t actually in the contract, but was promised to him.
“So, I think it was a tradeoff in the end. ‘If you’re not going to give me what you promised, I’m not going to do the media.’ He didn’t want to come to the press conference. He’s there in Portugal in his training camp.
“He’s quite happy to stay there. I think everybody is in the wrong to be quite honest with you. Not getting the guys together has probably lost some of its spark,” Hearn said about Fury and Whyte.
“I expect the press conference to be very entertaining. I also like the mind games from Dillian Whyte because Tyson Fury is a bit of a control freak in that respect. He wants to control the situation, and he hasn’t really been able to know what’s going on.”
