Alexander Krassyuk is still holding out hope that Tyson Fury will come to his senses.
The promoter of unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk made it clear in an interview Monday that the only way a fight between the two will materialize is if Fury offers his assent.
Fury, the WBC titlist, and Usyk, the WBO, WBA, and IBF titlist, have been in and out of negotiations for the past year but to little avail. The two will go their separate ways in the short term. Usyk will be defending his titles against mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois on Aug. 26 in Poland. As for Fury, the Manchester native will reportedly step into the ring next against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in what would be a lucrative exhibition bout; Ngannou has never fought in a professional boxing match.
Earlier in the summer, Fury, 34, and Usyk, 36, revisited talks to fight in December in Saudi Arabia as part of a four-fighter tournament that would also feature Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua in a separate bout. Backed by Skill Challenge Entertainment, the card would ostensibly offer all fighters involved career purses. Amer Abdallah, the head of the outfit, however, stated recently that there would be no “negotiation” on their offers. Usyk notably signed with Skill Challenge last month.
“It might happen, with only one condition: that Tyson Fury agrees to fight Oleksandr Usyk,” Krassyuk told Seconds Out. “That’s it. We’ve done everything needed to make it happen. Now the ball is on their side.
“If he accepts the take it or leave it offer from the Saudis, which will triply exceed his ever-biggest purse he ever received. And if he turns it down, read the real content of his actions.”
Krassyuk urged Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) to think of the service he would be doing for his fans if he takes up the fight with Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs).
“You can’t just entertain just in front of the mirror,” Krassyuk said. “You can make shadow boxing, but there is no one to entertain. For entertainment, you need an object for entertainment and that’s why he’s dependent on the public. …He became who he is only due to his fans, the public. And now he has to show this respect to the public.”
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.