WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, has promised to ‘crush’ Oleksandr Usyk if the fight goes ahead as planned.
A win for either man would cement their place amongst the greats and be crowned the first undisputed heavyweight king since Lennox Lewis, providing Fury settles his disagreements with the IBF.
Whilst negotiations are ongoing, there appears to be an air of confidence that the fight will take place next year, with Usyk’s team setting a deadline of March 4th.
With his superior size, Fury feels that this fight will be easier than fans anticipate, as he takes on the former undisputed cruiserweight champion. However, it is looking more and more likely that Fury will not have the home advantage that he so craves, with the bout seemingly heading to the Middle East, rather than Wembley Stadium, he told The Telegraph.
“We have the best fans in the world, and if you want to see a proper boxing match you want to do it at home in a stadium in England.
Ideally I’d fight Usyk at Wembley Stadium, it’s a huge fight here but my promoters Frank Warren and Bob Arum have interest from the Middle East. So we’re waiting for the offer to come in, if they do, they do, and if they don’t, they don’t, so the undisputed world heavyweight championship, the last one being held by Lennox [Lewis] could take place here or in the east.”
With a deadline in place, as Usyk plans on fasting in the period leading up the Easter, there are some doubts over the fight and Fury admitted that a deal must be agreed soon.
“We have the ability in a short space to put this on, and why is it a short space of time? There’s a million sanctioning bodies with mandatories so Usyk will be dragged out of it and be forced to fight his mandatories. If it doesn’t get done early it doesn’t get done at all.
When I get hold of Usyk he’ll be crushed. It’s a challenge, but he’ll be running away like a little b***h all night and I will hunt him down and when I get hold of him he’ll be crushed.”
The heavyweight clash is undoubtedly one of the must-see match-ups of 2023 and after a disappointing 2022, with the collapse of Spence-Crawford and Fury-Joshua, it could well be the catalyst for a strong year for the sport.