Tyson Fury must fight Oleksandr Usyk to cement his place in the list of all time great heavyweights – that’s the view of former featherweight champion of the world Barry McGuigan.
Speaking in his column in The Mirror, McGuigan stated that, although wins over Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder have put Fury on course for legendary status, he needs to face Usyk to elevate his position to join the very best in the sport’s history.
“Tyson Fury’s trilogy victories over Deontay Wilder and his Wladimir Klitschko win have put him on the path to greatness but fighting Oleksandr Usyk will take him to the legends’ table.”
“Fury is a proven world champion, but if he wants his record to stack up alongside the greats he has to make the big fights happen.”
With a potential undisputed fight against Usyk sidelined until 2023, Fury will face long time foe Derek Chisora for a trilogy bout on December 3rd at Tottenham Hotspurs’ stadium, despite defeating ‘Del Boy’ in comfortable fashion on two occasions in their earlier careers.
And McGuigan pulled no punches in his assessment of the fight, which has received heavy criticism from fans and observers on social media.
“Fighting Derek Chisora is below the required standard. There is very little risk in this fight. Fury is just filling a date in the calendar.”
“He should be fighting the best, not going over old ground against an opponent he has already outclassed twice.”
After talks for a mammoth meeting with Anthony Joshua broke down earlier this autumn, the boxing public will hope the Chisora contest will simply serve as a tune up for the ‘The Gypsy King’ before a bumper date in spring of next year, either with Joshua or the man who bested him twice, Usyk.
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