Oleksandr Usyk certainly won’t be trying to upsell fans on the upcoming heavyweight “crossover” clash between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou.
Fury, the WBC heavyweight titlist from England, will be taking on Cameroon’s Ngannou, the former UFC champion, on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in what will be Ngannou’s first fight in a professional boxing ring.
Hyped as a box office bonanza, Fury-Ngannou has nevertheless been lampooned by fans who believe it is nothing more than a cynical cash-grab and mismatch.
Should Fury, as expected, defeat Ngannou, he will enter into the undisputed heavyweight championship against Usyk, the unified IBF, WBO, IBO, WBA heavyweight champion from Ukraine, either in December or January. Their fight was announced last month.
But Usyk, who has long ridiculed Fury’s fight with Ngannou, sees no reason why he should tone down his opinion about that matchup since he and Fury signed contracts.
“No, why have I had to?” Fury said on the USYK17 YouTube Channel. “This bout is bread and butter for Tyson Fury. This is my attitude with regards to boxing. And when someone’s saying that Ngannou can drop him I probably would agree, but I’m really not certain. Tell me how could the guy with no experience in boxing beat a [six-foot-nine] giant who’s been in boxing for 20 years?
“Yes, Ngannou is a UFC champion, I’m not disputing it. But UFC isn’t boxing. I’m sure for a hundred percent that Tyson Fury will be victorious.”
Usyk conceded that he would freely eat crow if Ngannou, who has been billed as a puncher, happens to pull off the unthinkable.
“If Ngannou relatively has a puncher’s chance, and if he hypothetically happens to send Fury tumbling to the canvas, I’ll concede talking gibberish,” Usyk said. “It’s better to wait. We’ll see everything in a while.”
Usyk confirmed he intends to be ringside for the fight.
“Yes I’m going to be there,” Usyk said. “I would like to see the bout. The promotion is impressive.”
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.