Home Boxing News Oleksandr Usyk calls for Tyson Fury to come to the party and...

Oleksandr Usyk calls for Tyson Fury to come to the party and make the fight

Oleksandr Usyk (left), Tyson Fury (right) with promoter Bob Arum in the middle. Photo credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 20-0 (13) has again called on WBC counterpart Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (23) to return to the negotiating table to make the their four-belt unification clash.

Earlier this year 36-year-old Ukrainian southpaw Usyk acceded to Fury’s demand for a 70-30 purse split for their fight that had a working date of April 29 in London, but held firm to an even split for their rematch should he win.

That was unacceptable from Fury’s point of view.

Usyk has moved on from Fury for now and will defend his unified world championship against once-beaten Brit Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois 19-1 (18) at Stadion Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland on August 26.

For his part, Britain’s Fury, 34, has opted to face boxing debutant and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in what amounts to little more than a cash grab in a 10-round non-title boxing match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 28.

While the proposed Usyk vs Fury bout is on ice for now, it is a fight that former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk would like to revisit next year.

“The whole world wants to see the fight [between me and Fury],” Usyk told TNT Sports.

“It might be [facing the wrong British boxer], but this is the way. This is part of the way and if I have this Englishman in my way now then I have to face him.

“As a human being, I think [Fury] is a great person. I think he’s a great man, a great father, a great family man and as an athlete he’s brilliant as well.

“The only thing I can say is that there’s too much words, instead of actions. The whole world wants to see the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury and we have to make it.

“People are tired of talks. We need to do instead of talk.”

Earlier this year, Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk remained quietly confident until the 11th hour that the fight would get made.

“Normally when a fighter does not want to take a fight, he asks for something impossible so it doesn’t take place,” Krassyuk told talkSPORT in March. “On the other side, I’m really optimistic. Maybe Tyson is not ready yet. Maybe he’s is not ready mentally, maybe he’s not ready physically, whatever, I don’t know and we don’t really care.

“We want to make it happen. If he doesn’t want it, we can’t make him want it.”

Before negotiations can restart in earnest, Usyk will need to get past the big punching Dubois, 25.

“I treat him with respect,” Usyk said. “I don’t underestimate him. I treat him like I used to treat all of my opponents in the past.

“When I get myself prepared for Anthony Joshua or for anyone else, I do some volume of work in my training and with Daniel Dubois there is no exception. I do exactly the same work. I train as hard as I can, as it’s possible, to achieve my goal in the ring.”