Promoter Alex Krassyuk is hoping that WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury comes through his encounter with Francis Ngannou unscathed.
Fury will face Ngannou on Saturday in the desert of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh as the pair face each other over ten rounds.
However, much of the talk on the ground in Riyadh and the industry is already shifting towards much more meaningful events instead of this evening’s ‘high-profile’ encounter.
Tyson Fury is set to face unified heavyweight world world champion Oleksandr Usyk following Fury’s encounter with Ngannou. A date of December 23 is highly likely to be confirmed, if not immediately, certainly in the days following.
The proposed encounter between Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) and Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) will at long last see the victor finally crowned the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
That is if Fury comes through his contest unscathed against Ngannou, something which Krassyuk is hoping for.
The long-time promoter of Usyk, Krassyuk, has not hidden throughout 2023 his desire to secure Usyk an undisputed showdown with Fury. After many false dawns, which included a proposed fight at Wembley Stadium and negotiations drawn out in public. The undisputed heavyweight fight only came to fruition when Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Entertainment, came to the table to secure a deal suitable for all parties involved.
Krassyuk, who, along with Usyk, will be present to witness Fury-Ngannou, is praying that Fury comes through the other side of his encounter unscathed.
“We put prayers for Fury not getting injured,” Krassyuk told SecondsOut.com. “We gonna put some extra prayers for this.”
Krassyuk believes that when Usyk finally gets in the ring with Fury, the contest will be a 50/50 affair, while believing that Usyk is the more intelligent fighter in comparison to Fury.
“Usyk is a boxer,” Krassyuk continued. “He knows how to put the strategy in action. He knows what to do, how to do, and how to choose the proper time for that. This is a 50-50 fight. A strong man with good technique and high boxing IQ, I mean Tyson, is facing a former Olympic champion, former cruiserweight champion, and the unified heavyweight champion with Olympic background, with tremendous skills in boxing. Very high boxing IQ and huge heart.”
