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The promoter of WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk made it abundantly clear there is only one target on the hit list for his charge.
Aleksandr Krassyuk, the longtime handler of the Ukrainian southpaw, was unequivocal in a recent interview that Usyk’s next fight will be an undisputed title showdown with WBC champion Tyson Fury.
After Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, defeated Anthony Joshua, in August, he immediately expressed his intention to unify all four heavyweight belts with Fury. At the time, Usyk said he would retire if he could not get that fight, but he has walked back that statement since then. The two, however, were unable to consummate a deal as there was significant disagreement about the scheduling of their proposed fight. Fury wanted to fight before the end of the year, while Usyk said he would not be ready until next year.
Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) recently announced that he will be taking on British countryman Derek Chisora for a third time Dec. 3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Krassyuk said, save for an unlikely outcome that sees Chisora come out on top against Fury on Dec. 3, he fully expects Fury and Usyk to unify belts next year.
“He’s calling everyone a dosser, asking everyone for more money, he wants to fight (against top fighter), but he’s fighting Chisora a third time,” Krassyuk told ESNews. “At the end of the day, it is what it is. He is a big star. He is the WBC heavyweight champion, and in case he is unlucky, on December the 3rd, he is the next opponent for Oleksandr Usyk.”
Krassyuk said while there are other intriguing heavyweight matches to make, they are subordinate to one involving Fury. For example, Krassyuk said he would welcome a fight between Usyk and former heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder; the two fighters have recently expressed interest in fighting each other. But Krassyuk said a fight with Wilder will have to take the backseat against an undisputed fight with Fury.
Wilder ended a one-year layoff from the ring last Saturday with a one-punch knockout of Robert Helenius at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“Absolutely yes, absolutely yes,” Krassyuk said of a Uysk-Wilder match. “As a fan, I would love to see that fight happen, but the thing is that from the first time that Usyk stepped into the ring our objective was to collect all the belts. We made it in cruiserweight and now we are on our way to making it in heavyweight.”