A fight between heavyweight world title holders Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is one of the most anticipated in all of boxing. It is also proving one of the hardest to make, with both parties blaming the other for the downfall of negotiations.
Plenty of people in the boxing world have their own views on why the fight has not yet been delivered, including former cruiserweight world titleholder Johnny Nelson.
Speaking to Second Outs recently, the Sheffield man doubted Fury’s claim that there is no one out there to fight him.
“I think he beats Usyk, but it sounds like Tyson Fury doesn’t believe he beats Usyk. So all the demands, all the negotiating, all the hustling might be to squeeze out as much as he possibly can financially, and I rate that.
But I’m not going to be one of these fools who blows smoke up his ass. I see through it. You can fight, and you deserve the lion’s share, but I’m not buying that bulls**t [that there is nobody out there to fight you.]”
Fury has never been short on confidence in the past, nor has he shied away from big fights: he famously defeated long-reining champion Wladimir Klitschko on away soil in Germany back in 2015.
Then, coming off the back of a long layoff and many well-documented struggles with his mental health, he went to the States to fight fearsome puncher Deontay Wilder and came away with a much-disputed split decision draw before going on to twice better ‘The Bronze Bomber.’
Fury’s father John recently claimed his son is no longer interested in whether or not the fight happens, and now Nelson seems to agree that the ball lies in Fury’s court.