By Charles Brun: Oleksandr Usyk sees “greedy belly” Tyson Fury’s selection of Francis Ngannou as his next opponent on October 28th as a flat-out admission that he’s afraid of fighting him.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) wants no part in mixing it with the unbeaten IBF, WBA & WBO champ Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) because he already backed out of negotiations after he’d agreed to the terms. Fury would have made more money fighting Usyk than Ngannou but chose the latter for obvious reasons. No risk is involved.
The decision by Fury to fight Ngannou instead of Usyk or a top-level heavyweight has left his reputation in tatters, as it makes him look like he’s afraid and just out to make easy money. Usyk sees Fury’s behavior as a mix of fear & plain old-fashioned greed.
Fury’s previous two fights were against Dereck Chisora & Dillian Whyte, both of which are journeymen-level fighters. Tyson could have fought Anthony Joshua and Usyk in 2022 but chose those two instead.
“For Francis Ngannou, this is a great opportunity, but for Tyson Fury, it’s definitely not,” Oleksandr Usyk said to Sky Sports Boxing.
“Doesn’t it seem strange that instead of choosing a top-10 guy, he is choosing someone who has never boxed before?” said Usyk about Fury fighting Ngannou.
“Yes, of course, greedy belly is afraid of me,” said Usyk on whether Fury is showing fear of him.
Many people feel that Fury sees the crafty southpaw master boxer Usyk as a threat, so he’s swerving him to avoid losing his WBC title, which only gives him any credibility at this stage.
According to Eddie Hearn, Fury would have made more money fighting Usyk or Anthony Joshua than he’s getting for the fight on October 28th against the 36-year-old “debutant” Ngannou, who has never laced up a pair of boxing gloves for a professional fight.
Some fans feel that Deontay Wilder knocked the remaining confidence completely out of Fury in their third fight in 2021 when he parked him the on the canvas in the fourth round after blasting him with a right hand to t.
With the help of what many saw as a slow count from the referee, Fury barely beat the count to avoid what would have been a knockout.
Fury’s enablers point out that Usyk is taking small money to defend his titles next month against Daniel Dubois on August 26th in Wroclaw, Poland.
The difference here is Usyk has no choice but to fight Dubois because he’s his WBA mandatory, and the sanctioning body has ordered the fight. If Usyk wants to keep his WBA title, he has to defend it against Dubois.