It wasn’t long ago that Egis Klimas was gearing up to negotiate an undisputed fight between his fighter, Oleksandr Usyk, and Tyson Fury. Now, the manager hasn’t held back in his scathing assessment of ‘The Gypsy King.’
The heavyweight division came close to just one champion yet again, but, as is typical in boxing, things changed.
The timeline is relatively clear. Usyk called out Fury after he beat Anthony Joshua for a second time. Fury, who holds the WBC belt, responded positively, suggesting December. The Ukrainian wanted longer to rest and repair, countering with early next year. Fury called out ‘AJ’ instead, who accepted, and here we are.
Whilst a fight between Fury and Joshua in the UK is one fans have demanded for years now, an undisputed bout between Fury and Usyk is also high on their lists. One man who’s close to it all is Usyk’s manager, Egis Klimas.
Speaking to Ring Magazine’s Joseph Santoliquito, Klimas gave his opinion on Fury’s plans.
“Usyk is the heavyweight world champion and look how many statements Fury has made these last few months, he’s retiring, he’s not retiring, he’s fighting Usyk, he’s not [fighting] Usyk, and now he’s fighting Joshua, you really don’t know what Fury is going to do next.
If you look in his past at everything that happened, Fury always caused a problem when it came to getting an undisputed world champion. He’s unpredictable.”
As for what Fury versus Joshua, should it be made, means for Usyk, he says his man wanted to face ‘The Gypsy King’ next – and a Joshua fight in between could stop fans from seeing an undisputed heavyweight champion.
“What happens when Joshua beats his ass? What will happen next? They will go to a rematch, which will push back the chance to have an undisputed world champion. I think Fury is most likely afraid of Usyk. Why does he run away from Usyk? Why? Because Fury sees danger in Usyk.”
“Usyk wanted to fight Fury by the end of the year. You know what, we’re not running after him. We have three belts. He has one belt. Who cares? It’s a situation Fury created. Not Usyk. Usyk would fight Tyson Fury in his backyard. Usyk would fight anyone in their backyard.”
Finally, on his champion instead facing the winner of Deontay Wilder and Robert Helenius, Klimas was direct in his response.
“Usyk would like to fight Wilder, but whoever wins that fight would be next for Usyk. Usyk is not like Fury. He’s looking for the winners not looking for the losers.”