Former WBC champion, Deontay Wilder, has reacted to the news that the undisputed heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has fallen through.
Wilder of course has history with Fury, facing him in a famous trilogy, in which ‘The Gypsy King’ got the better of, with two wins and a controversial draw.
With those victories Fury took Wilder’s WBC belt and looked set to face Usyk in a fight to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
However, as talks dragged on and offers were made over social media, fans became less optimistic the fight would materialise and news finally broke that the talks had officially stopped and the deal was dead.
When talking to reporters after being in attendance for the David Benavidez vs Caleb Plant fight in Las Vegas, Wilder said he wasn’t surprised at the collapse.
“I mean this is the business of boxing, it’s a very difficult business.
For me the business of boxing is one of the most difficult businesses to be in because it has no structure, so it can go any way. It has so many loopholes, so many tunnels, so many avenues it can travel, so it’s not a surprise to me that it fell apart like that.
Just like many other fights before, so we can’t be surprised at this because we’ve seen so many of the best fights that we think would have happened but didn’t happen and fall apart.
So for me a fight isn’t final until you get in the ring and the bell goes ding.”
In a strange turn of events ‘The Bronze Bomber’ is now one of the favourites to face Usyk next, with legends such as Mike Tyson calling for the fight.
The Ukrainian, however, has stated his desire for all the belts in boxing’s blue-ribbon division, suggesting he might turn down the more glamorous fights to deal with his mandatory obligations, with Daniel Dubois officially next in line.