Tyson Fury has highlighted why he’s open to fighting Oleksandr Usyk and not Anthony Joshua.
Following his one-sided victory over a brave but battered Derek Chisora, Fury is now expected to head straight into talks for an undisputed fight against the Ukrainian.
In an alternate reality where big fights always happen in boxing, it could have been Joshua he was facing rather than Chisora. The pair entered into negotiations not long ago, but things fell apart, as many fans guessed they would.
In his post-fight press conference, Fury took aim at ‘AJ’, saying that he wanted to fight people who showed a real interest – and Usyk entering the ring for a face-off on Saturday night was exactly what he liked to see.
“I want to fight real challengers and real men who want to fight. Usyk come here tonight to do a fight. Ringside, stood there, got in my face. He wants to fight.”
“Of all the years, we live in the same country, has anyone ever, ever seen AJ do that to me? Get in my face at a fight and say ‘let’s get it on like Donkey Kong’? No.”
‘The Gypsy King’ went on to include Joe Joyce, who also popped up at ringside after the Chisora fight.
“Even Big Joe [Joyce] thought he was going to join the party, didn’t he? Get up Big Joe! He gatecrashed that party and went ‘I want a piece of this.’ I said right, let’s just have a Royal Rumble then.”
😤 "@usykaa got in my face, he wants to fight! When have you ever seen Anthony Joshua get in my face and say let's get it on?"@Tyson_Fury is impressed by Usyk's willingness to fight but doesn't think the same can be said about other heavyweights… 👀#FuryChisorapic.twitter.com/9rdpDzqXWV
— Frank Warren (@FrankWarren) December 3, 2022
Whilst fans will be happy that the undisputed bout looks likely next, as well as a future clash of giants with Joe Joyce, it looks like the potential of a Fury – Joshua fight is at an all time low.
The showmanship and pro-wrestling-esque call outs have never been Joshua’s thing, but it appears it might be what he needs to do to entice Fury into a fight that fans are still very keen to see.
If Fury’s plans look sorted for 2023 in Usyk and Joyce, Joshua’s are still up in the air. A rematch with DIllian Whyte has been overshadowed by conversations with Deontay Wilder’s team, but nothing has been announced yet.