Oleksandr Usyk remains determined to fight Tyson Fury.
On Saturday at Stadion Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland he fights Daniel Dubois in the second defence of his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles.
Since winning them from and then defending them against Anthony Joshua in successive fights in September 2021 and August 2022, a fight between he and the WBC champion Fury has perhaps been the most sought after in the world.
Their inability to agree terms instead means that Usyk is fighting the 25-year-old Dubois and Fury is preparing to fight the mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou, but Usyk, once the undisputed cruiserweight champion and already financially secure and recognised as one of the world’s finest active fighters, recognises he “needs” Fury to enhance the legacy that already qualifies him as a modern great.
“I need him,” the 36 year old responded when asked about his divisional rival. “The WBC title is just additional motivation, maybe, but the fans want to see that fight.
“We need to fight, me and him – we need to fight. The people are gonna be talking about that for 10, 20, 30, maybe 40 years about that fight. We need to meet in the ring.”
Asked about his personal feelings on Fury, whose unpredictability contributed so much to the fact that they are not fighting this year, Usyk laughed, and responded: “He’s beautiful; he’s funny.
“I don’t think about him at all. I just wait to meet him in the ring.”
