Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk says that former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua should seriously consider an offer to step aside and allow his man to fight for the undisputed title.
After Usyk came to London last September to out-fox and out-box Anthony Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur stadium to take the Brit’s three world heavyweight titles it seemed inevitable that the two would face one another again.
Now there appears to be an alternative. Yesterday, The Telegraph
reported that Joshua would take £15 million pounds to allow Usyk and Fury to contest the undisputed title.
Responding to the article in The Telegraph, Krassyuk said: “I don’t know the money that AJ was offered, I don’t whether he agreed that, whether he accepted it but according to Telegraph in UK they say he did!”
Krassyuk then put forward his own theory as to why Joshua should consider making way for Usyk to face ‘The Gypsy King’ next.
“Let’s think about it theoretically,” he began. “What options does he have? If the money they claim is correct, I mean £15 million pounds, [and] let’s say he fights Usyk next would he earn more? I don’t know but maybe something around that. Will it be a risky fight for him? Definitely, yes.
If he loses to Usyk second time, [there are] many question marks for his future. If he gets this money, I think he gets the guarantee to fight the winner of Fury-Usyk and he gets a chance to fight for the undisputed which I think is a big benefit for him. So, if I was AJ, I would probably consider this offer very seriously.”
Boxing Social then asked Krassyuk how Usyk, one of boxing’s most colourful yet relaxed characters, feels about all of the speculation.
“He’s the kind of person to accept each day as it comes,” says Krassyuk.
“He’s not big planner. He says, ‘If you want to make the Lord smile tell him about your plans’. He accepts everything that comes as it is.
“When this Fury offer came out, he was saying, ‘Okay let’s see, if we can do that let’s try to do that’. If AJ is not against it, because we have the commitment with AJ for the rematch, then why not fight for the undisputed.
His mindset is the mindset of a winner. He’s not really concerned about
opponent whether it’s AJ or Fury. He’s doing his job in the training camp perfectly so whoever turns out to be opponent he is ready to face.”
Click here to watch Krassyuk speak about the threat that Fury poses, the pivotal part that Dillian Whyte plays in the scenario and much more.