Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, has said his fighter was ‘upset’ to hear that a scrap with Tyson Fury is in jeopardy.
Negotiations for the undisputed heavyweight championship bout have been ongoing since December, with various positive updates towards the beginning but increasingly negative ones as the targeted date of April 29 nears.
Krassyuk spoke to Seconds Out about the mindset of his fighter amidst the unknown.
“Usyk is in training camp since December, so he’s in great shape. Before coming to London I visited him there – perfect condition mental and physical.
He’s ready to go, and when he heard that the fight can be jeopardised, well he was upset a bit because he was getting prepared for the biggest fight in the history of heavyweight boxing. But it doesn’t take him deep because he’s very professional.”
Krassyuk went on to express his frustration at the length of time the negotiations have taken, and has urged Fury’s side to confirm whether or not ‘The Gypsy King’ wants to proceed.
“We’re all very extremely tired of talks. We want to do something considerable. We want to know if Tyson is in or not. During negotiations actually, I asked to give me Tyson for five minutes – a personal conversation. And I bet we would be having a fight.”
With a date pencilled in at Wembley Stadium, Fury is expected to fight in April regardless of Usyk’s participation. Krassyuk agreed with Frank Warren that this week was the deadline to make the fight happen before other options are explored.
Sadly for fans, the undisputed opportunity is expected to go out the window if that’s the case, as the sanctioning bodies all have mandatory challengers lining up for a shot.