By Graham Ilford: Dillian Whyte says he expected Oleksandr Usyk to defend his undisputed heavyweight championship against WBO mandatory Fabio Wardley. He doesn’t believe that Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) will “run away” from the unbeaten Wardley and choose to vacate his WBO title.
Fury Trilogy Still Tempting
If Usyk is waiting on Tyson Fury, it makes sense for him to be holding off on his decision to face the dangerous puncher Wardley. The money that Oleksandr will make in a trilogy with ‘The Gypsy King’ would be enormous compared to a defense against Fabio.
What complicates this is that Fury still hasn’t confirmed whether he’ll come out of retirement to take the fight. He had initially said he wanted to face Usyk again, but he recently changed his mind.
Fans are questioning whether Usyk will take the fight against Fabio. The 38-year-old four-belt champion hasn’t said a word since Wardley’s upset 11th-round technical knockout of WBO interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker last month on October 25th. For Oleksandr to have remained silent is unusual for him and not a positive sign if you’re Wardley.
Referee’s Crucial Timeout
The performance by Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) was impressive, with him dishing out a lot of punishment on and showing a tough chin in taking Parker’s best shots.
It’s a fight that could have rightfully ended in the second round after Wardley had Parker on serious trouble after staggering him with a right hand. Referee Howard Foster’s decision to call a timeout to allow Parker to have his mouthpiece put back in with 40 seconds remaining in the round may have saved him from being stopped.
Whyte: “Usyk Fights the Best”
“Usyk doesn’t seem to run away from any challenge. He’s faced all the best fighters. If you look at the last 10 fights Oleksandr has had, it’s the best fighter at cruiserweight, the best in the world, the best at heavyweight, the best in the world. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t fight Fabio,” said Dillian Whyte to Sky Sports Boxing about his belief that Oleksandr Usyk will face Fabio Wardley.
It’s a different situation that Usyk is in now compared to the past. He’s 38, and he’s got the Fury fight that he could potentially take. That’s enough of a reason for him to hold off on agreeing to defend against Wardley and risk his unbeaten record. Losing to him would ruin his chances of a third fight with Tyson.
Whyte Predicts No Vacate Move
“You never know a big fight might come out of left field for Usyk, but as a fan and as the kind of person I think he is, I don’t think he’ll vacate. I think he’ll fight Fabio Wardley,” said Dillian.
Fighting Wardley would be a courageous thing for Usyk to do if he could get the defense over with quickly. The problem is, the longer Fury is out of the ring, the less likely he’ll come out of retirement. He’s so rich now that it would be physically hard for him to return to training at 38 or 39.
Fury’s Return Remains Unclear
It’s a different story now compared to when Fury returned to the ring after a two and a half year layoff in 2018. He’d stopped fighting after his victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. When Tyson resumed his career, he was 29, and eased back into it with a fight against Sefer Seferi rather than going straight to the top.
“If he beats Fabio Wardley on top of the list of all the people he’s beaten, that puts him definitely as the greatest fighter of the last 20 years,” said Whyte.
Graham Ilford is a veteran boxing columnist who returned to writing after a decade-long hiatus. Known for his sardonic tone and dry humor, he examines promoters, fighters, and the business of the sport with the perspective of someone who has watched every era of hype repeat itself.