After his latest victory, Oleksandr Usyk said he was ready to fight Tyson Fury tomorrow.
The match-up is one of, if not the, most sought-after in the sport of boxing, and would crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis over two decades ago.
Negotiations earlier this year faltered and failed due to disagreements on purse splits and rematch clauses, and Usyk was instead forced to face the first of his mandatory challengers for the unified titles, Daniel Dubois.
With that victory under his belt, talk has returned to a four-belt clash with Fury.
Former world champion and Usyk opponent, Tony Bellew, told Safe Betting Sites the Ukrainian has what it takes to beat ‘The Gypsy King’ and then ‘ride off into the sunset’ as one of the best to ever lace up.
“I think he just wants that unification fight now. He wants that WBC title and to unify the heavyweight division and then I think he’ll just want to walk away.
I don’t think we’ll see him again. I just think he’ll want to ride off into the sunset and so he should. He deserves to. He’s been absolutely amazing. European champion, world champion, amateur champion, Olympic gold medallist, undisputed unified cruiserweight champion.
He’s almost done it all so there will be nowhere left to go if he beats Tyson Fury which he is capable of doing. If he does then he will definitely go down as one of the greats. You can’t call him the greatest of all time but he is definitely in the conversation.”
Unfortunately for Fury, Usyk, and fans combined, the next mandatory in line – Filip Hrgovic – has no intention of missing his shot to allow the two champions to fight.
It means that, as things stand, an undisputed fight next for Usyk is highly unlikely. For Fury, he’ll next step over the ropes for a crossover bout with MMA star, Francis Ngannou, on October 28.