By Charles Brun: The heavyweight undisputed championship between unified champion Oleksandr Usyk & inactive WBC belt-holder Tyson Fury could happen next year in Saudi Arabia.
ESPN reports that talks are “heating up” for the Usyk-Fury undisputed heavyweight clash in 2024. Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) says the fight is “simmering” this year, and it gives fans “something to look forward to.”
Fans are skeptical, believing Fury is full of hot air and is on a glorified retirement tour, using his WBC title as a promotional prop to validate him, making easy money fighting non-boxers and low-level British fighters long overdue for the scrap heap.
Fury will likely continue to let the fight with Usyk marinate while he does other things, like fighting MMA guys in crossover fights in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis are willing to pay for the garbage fights that Fury is setting up, so he’ll likely continue down that path until they tire of these circus-level fights due to fan disgust.
The danger of Fury continuing to let the fight simmer is that aging 36-year-old Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) could lose in one of his title defenses, which would result in a far less appealing fight between the ‘Gypsy King’ and the likes of Filip Hrgovic, Zhilei Zhang or Joe Joyce.
That’s probably what Fury is hoping for because Usyk, with his movement, fast hands & accurate laser-guided shots, would be a nightmare for the slow-moving thought to be extinct woolly mammoth.
Usyk vs. Fury possible for next year
“I’m told that talks are really heating up to match Fury & Usyk next year in Saudi Arabia,” said Mike Coppinger to ESPN about the long-awaited undisputed heavyweight championship fight between IBF, WBA & WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk & WBC belt-holder Tyson Fury.
The heavyweight division has had some really poor champions over the years, but Fury takes the cake, ranking among the top of the worst of the worst.
Fury is using the WBC belt to make money, fighting lesser opposition, and showing no interest in giving fans the fights they want to see. It’s utterly pathetic. Fans want to see Fury risk his soft hide fighting these heavyweights:
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Anthony Joshua
- Arslanbek Makhmudov
- Filip Hrgovic
- Zhilei Zhang
- Jared Anderson
- Deontay Wilder
- Frank Sanchez
“There’s a lot of optimism from the people I spoke to that fight is finally going to happen, provided Fury gets past [Francis] Ngannou, which I don’t think anyone is worried about that. I guess you never know,” said Coppinger.
It’s very unlikely Fury will ever fight Usyk because he clearly doesn’t want that fight, and he’s getting paid too much money from the Saudis for his events against no-boxers.
Additionally, Fury is getting old & fat and looks like he’s aged badly since his trilogy match with Wilder in 2021. It’s unclear what Fury is doing, but he needs to slow down because he’s not aging like fine wine.
“Fury today has been taking shots at Usyk, saying, ‘Oh, you got hit by what wasn’t a low blow. You should have lost to [Daniel] Dubois,” said Coppinger.
“Obviously, it was a low blow. Let’s be real, but I do think we’re finally going to get that fight, and if we get it next year, great, because a Fury-Ngannou fight can only build interest for a fight between Fury & Usyk.
“It’s simmering” – Fury on Usyk fight
“Traditional boxing is low-time s**t. This is colossal, global phenomenon,” said Tyson Fury to Secondsout about his fight with Francis Ngannou.
“If I go beat that little middleweight [Usyk] in two rounds, then you definitely have nothing to look forward to. All the time, it’s simmering, people have something to look forward to in the future. I’m looking forward to kicking his a**, Ngannou’s a**,” said Fury.
