By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury says he has “no interest” in fighting Anthony Joshua, and as far as he’s concerned, he’s “dead.” Instead, Fury is eager to face former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in his next fight if his negotiations with Oleksandr Usyk fall through for April 29th,
Given the way Fury is talking up a storm about fighting the 34-year-old Ngannou in a 2-fight deal, it would seem evident that he’s intent on wrecking the negotiations for the undisputed clash with IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) just as many fans feel he did with the Joshua talks last November.
At this point, it’s likely the only way Usyk gets the Fury fight is if he’s willing to agree to a dreadful contract that is nowhere near as good as the deal he was offered by the Saudis.
What was interesting is how Fury bailed from the Joshua negotiations at warp speed to hurry into a fight against Derek Chisora on December 3rd in a match that wasn’t remotely sporting. That fight was so awful to look at.
Predictably, Fury will foul up the Usyk fight to squirm his way out of that problematic match-up so he can face the novice Ngannou in a two-fight deal.
With Usyk, there’s a chance Fury loses and winds up getting humiliated. In contrast, fighting the novice Ngannou is a no-risk fight for Fury.
What this means for boxing fans is that Fury will be busy fighting Ngannou for the rest of 2023 because those two fights will eat up the entire year.
If Fury-Ngannou isn’t the cup of tea for Fury’s fans, they’ll likely have to wait until 2024 before he faces his next boxer. The WBC mandatory challenger will be put in the deep freeze, waiting until Fury’s two to three fights with Ngannou are completed before they get a title shot.
“I don’t even [want to] go there anymore. Finished. No interest in any AJ questions. Zero. Man’s dead in my eyes,” said Tyson Fury to Sportbible.
“There’s no business between me and him to be done. Finished. It’s not happening.”
“My offer to Ngannou is on the table. If Usyk don’t fight, then I’ll be looking to make the Ngannou fight.
“I’m going to do a two-fight deal in a boxing ring and in the cage. I’ve never asked him to fight in the boxing ring. I always said the cage.
“In a boxing ring, it would be a pointless contest. It’d be like me fighting someone at the local gym – bodybuilding gym. But in a cage with four once gloves on, anything can happen.”