By Jack Tiernan: WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s management representative Spencer Browne has “categorically” confirmed that the undisputed clash against IBF, WBA & WBC champ Oleksandr Usyk would be going ahead on December 23.
There had been reports that Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) said he needed a 14-week camp to prepare for the fight with Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) and wouldn’t be ready to fight on December 23rd.
However, Brown insists that’s not the case, which is good news for fans, who are anxious to see the undisputed championship contest between Fury & Usyk.
Fury, 35, still needs to win his celebrity match against ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou on October 28th in Saudi Arabia. Presumably, Fury will still fight Usyk in December, even if Ngannou sparks him out.
The boxing public will still be interested in seeing the Fury-Usyk fight, even if Fury is coming off a loss to Ngannou.
Obviously, fewer fans will be interested in seeing the fight under those circumstances, but oh well. Fury is getting old, and he’s taken off a lot of weight in his training camp, which has been essentially a fat farm for him.
For Fury, this may be a case of him going to the well too often to burn off huge amounts of fat for a fight. He’s been getting away with letting himself go physically by binge eating between fights for a long time, but you can’t get away with that forever if you’re a professional athlete. You can’t be a slob if you want to perform at the highest rungs in boxing.
You can argue the only reason Fury has still found success despite his poor eating habits is his huge 6’9″ frame and the fact that he’s not faced any quality fighters during his career.
Deontay Wilder was the only real talent that Fury has faced, and he was arguably knocked out in the first and third fights against him. Wladimir Klitschko was 40 years old when Fury fought him and entirely over the hill.
“I can assure you that’s not the case [Oleksandr Usyk not being available for December 23rd due to him needing a 14-week camp],” said Tyson Fury’s managerial representative Spencer Brown to Boxing King Media about the undisputed heavyweight championship fight between WBC champ Fury and IBF, WBA & WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk taking place.
“I can categorically tell you that we’re going on the 23rd. So, we’re not bothered about anybody else, really. Why would we be?
“I spoke to his management last night about the situation, and so did Frank & George Warren. We’ve had lengthy conversations. That’s not the case, and we’re full steam ahead for the 23rd [of December].
“That’s a great fight, and it’s a good warmup fight,” said Brown, reacting to being told that the Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn contest potentially taking place on the same date as the Fury vs. Usyk contest on December 23rd.
Having the Eubank Jr-Benn fight scheduled on the same night will hurt the PPV numbers for Fury vs. Usyk in the UK, but probably not in the U.S. American boxing fans don’t care about the celebrity match between Eubank Jr. and Benn. Those guys don’t register with U.S. fans, who don’t rate either of them.
“We’re looking at a generational fight [Fury-Usyk] here, a fight that hasn’t happened in 20 years, and it’s not going to happen again in properly another 20 years if it happens at all again,” said Brown. “It’s so difficult for this to happen. It’s a minefield. You need certain ingredients to bake the cake here.
“Any of these big promoters here. You only got to ask Frank Warren, Eddie Hearn, any of these big English promoters, or the foreign promoters. You need all the ingredients, especially Bob Arum. Bob Arum has been doing this forever, and so has Frank.
“You can say what you want. Eddie Hearn is a marvelous promoter. He’s brought English boxing back from the doldrums, so they’ve all had their parts to play in it, and at the moment, for me, Frank Warren is doing a stellar job and George’s son. They’re doing a great job,” said Browne.
