Usyk's Promoter: We'll Do Our Best To Get Joshua By End of 2019

Published

by Tomi Pradarics

After winning the first ever World Boxing Super Series and grabbing the Muhammad Ali Trophy at cruiserweight, Oleksandr Usyk and his promoter, K2 Ukraine, have now made headlines with bringing the Ukrainian phenom to powerful promoter Eddie Hearn, who runs Matchroom Boxing.

The parties signed a multi-fight co-promotional contract and thus Usyk’s next fight will be broadcasted live on DAZN in the US and Sky Sports in the UK.

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“I’m thrilled that K2 Promotions will be working with Matchroom Boxing moving forward to secure me the biggest fights out there. Fans can look forward to watching me take on the biggest and best names in the sport,” said Usyk upon signing with Hearn.

Team Usyk and Matchroom have already negotiated about a potential super-fight for the Ukrainian against former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew. The proposed date of the carnage is November 10th somewhere in the UK, with all four of Usyk’s belts could be at stake - but the WBA is pushing for Usyk to make a mandatory defense against Denis Lebedev.

K2 Ukraine General Director and thus promoter of the WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO/Ring champion Usyk, Alexander Krassyuk is pleased with the union with Matchroom Boxing.

He hopes the new deal with Matchroom will eventually lead to a future showdown with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who is Hearn's star fighter.

Usyk is planning a move to the heavyweight division in the very near future.

"Once he starts his journey in the elite division he would be looking for the heart of the king, and Joshua is the king at heavyweight right now," Krassyuk told Sky Sports.

"So I can anticipate that Usyk vs Joshua could be something really, really extraordinary in modern boxing. We will make our best to make it happen by the end of next year.

You can reach Tamas Pradarics at pradaricst@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TomiPradarics.

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kafkodThu Sep 13, 2018, 8:38 PM UTC

225/230 is too heavy. Usyk needs to be light and mobile. Also needs to keep his stamina. These Heavyweights can't fight all three minutes of rounds. They also slow down in those middle rounds. Joshua and Wilder only throw about 400 punches in 12 rounds. Going by the Parker and Ortiz fights. Wilder-Ortiz only went ten, but Wilder was on his way to throwing about 400 for 12 rounds. That's probably because Ortiz made him cautious. I believe he threw more in the first Stiverne fight. Wilder has better stamina than Joshua, but Wilder doesn't throw many combos. Usyk should fight at 215-220 at Heavyweight. These Heavyweights get hit a lot. Usyk shouldn't find it too hard to hit them. He wouldn't need to be heavier than that to be effective, the way he fights. But I believe he comes in around 210/215 after cutting to 200, and I'm thinking that without cutting he would probably gain 10 -15lbs naturally.

Marvlus_MarvThu Sep 13, 2018, 8:07 PM UTC

I'm not saying 2020 ISN'T more realistic. I'm merely saying "we'll do our best to get our shot by the end of 2019" ISN'T that crazy or bold a prediction. It seems highly doable. To me Uysk's possibly just one HW win away from Joshua. If he fights Bellew before the end of the year & Whyte (assuming he gets the Apr title shot, but maybe not) or Parker in early 2019 its not crazytown to think Usyk could get the 2nd fight for Joshua of 2019. It's doable if all goes to plan, no injuries or upsets, but he's going to be a reasonably small HW at ~220 lbs and 6' 3.

Marvlus_MarvThu Sep 13, 2018, 8:05 PM UTC

Fair enough but he's going to be a reasonably small HW at ~220 lbs and 6' 3.

HITECH_BoxingThu Sep 13, 2018, 7:42 PM UTC

That's exactly the way I think about it. If any HW in the division gets caught clean by the likes of AJ or Wilder, they are going to get hurt, and probably KO'd. Usyk is already coming into the ring around the same size (weight) as Wilder, and will almost certainly be bigger than him when he moves up and stops cutting to 200lbs. He is 6' 3" with 78" reach, and I'm sure he'll be just as ripped at HW as he is now, and coming in around 225/230lbs, maybe? That's not too small for a HW, even by todays standards. He won't be blasting guys out with one shot, but neither are the Fury cousins, and I would give both of them a reasonable chance of beating either AJ or Wilder. 225/230 is too heavy. Usyk needs to be light and mobile. Also needs to keep his stamina. These Heavyweights can't fight all three minutes of rounds. They also slow down in those middle rounds. Joshua and Wilder only throw about 400 punches in 12 rounds. Going by the Parker and Ortiz fights. Wilder-Ortiz only went ten, but Wilder was on his way to throwing about 400 for 12 rounds. That's probably because Ortiz made him cautious. I believe he threw more in the first Stiverne fight. Wilder has better stamina than Joshua, but Wilder doesn't throw many combos. Usyk should fight at 215-220 at Heavyweight. These Heavyweights get hit a lot. Usyk shouldn't find it too hard to hit them.

Marvlus_MarvThu Sep 13, 2018, 9:39 AM UTC

By the end of 2019 is 15mos away. Since he's the #1 200lber by the mile & is coming off of that WBSS win it seems like he'd have a higher appeal to get meaningful fights to steer him to a chance at Joshua. And I mean this isn't THAT deep a division yet even if I like it better than I've liked HW in awhile. I mean if Usyk fights & beats Whyte or Parker in his first HW fight isn't a title shot vs Joshua a reasonable next fight for him? And I think Usyk would beat both of those guys. Usyk is a bad mfer. Ok, but remeber he'll still be a cruiserweight at the end of THIS year (if he fights Bellew) so he'll have more like 12 months to beef up, tune up then be ready for AJ. Mid 2020 would be far more realistic for Uzi. I mean, AJ isn't a shot David Haye that you can just waltz up from cruiserweight and take him out.

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