Comments Thread For: Hearn: Usyk Should Fight Joyce For WBO-Interim, It Could Become Full Title

[Oshio]

Usyk should fight Joyce. If he wins, it would make the fight with Joshua even bigger for all the belts and it would increase his payday too

[Oshio]

Another option for him is to fight for the Bridgerweight title

[Monty Fisto]

Hearn has a vested interest here lol. Usyk should attempt to fight AJ because it's his biggest money fight. At the very least he should hold out for the most step aside money. If all else fails, then fight Joyce.

This seems a bit of a mishmash of a strategy. Yes, Hearn has a vested interest, of course he does, but what he's saying actually makes some kind of sense -- although if I were Usyk I would wait to fight Joyce until after Joshua/Fury.

What does Usyk actually want first and foremost? Is it actually the WBO belt or is it rather just a fight with AJ for the dough? (Yes, ideally he will want both, but that may not be available, as I will outline -- stay with me!)

Let's say he is most interested in fighting AJ for the dough and he views his mandatory position as leverage. By not stepping aside, by trying to block the fight with Fury, he is not going to endear himself to AJ or Hearn. AJ would likely drop the belt and then be disinclined to fight Usyk in the future. So goodbye to the AJ fight.

However, if he actually just wants the belt, then his best option is to wait for the WBO to strip AJ and fight whomever the organisation mandates. Or maybe he'd just be given the belt. But this is the low money option.

Or he can agree to step aside, wait a long, long time and then possibly fight AJ if he wins. Or be in a shlt position if Fury wins. Maybe he could get something in the contract to fight the winner, but maybe Fury retires at that point.

If it's available, the best option is to take some step aside payment, then fight for the belt after the megafight, when the WBO strips AJ. And then hope he might be able to get AJ at some point in the future.

[have_not]

Usyk has been and is a problem for Hearn. After Usyk won the Muhammad Ali trophy and unified the belts with a superb performance on a rise. He won gold medal in London same time as Joshua and is/was highly rated in UK. It was one of the bigger fights for Joshua to make. Instead Hearn wanted Usyk to fight others, they chose Chisora because they thought that he would beat Usyk, they that style would pose problems for Usyk. You could hear and see that Hearn was very agitated that Chisora didn't win that fight as he was banking on. He don't want that fight for a long time

[_Rexy_]

Another option for him is to fight for the Bridgerweight title

Nobody wants that ****ing belt, and rightfully so.

[Monty Fisto]

Nobody wants that ****ing belt, and rightfully so.

You can say that again.

Usyk didn't give up the unified crown at cruiser to go fight for an unestablished belt in a division with about three fighters. That would be utterly pointless and a big step back for him.

I do sympathise with him a bit because the top two fighters at HW are going to be tied up for a long stretch. Might be best to get hold of the WBO as soon as possible by whatever means is available and then defend it against someone credible to establish himself.

[Timur78]

Hearn would have Usyk fight every other boxer in the HW division, so long as AJ doesn't face him.

[Timur78]

Usyk is in a good position here.
If he plays his cards right he could make a lot of money stepping aside,
and eventually fight for and win a HW title, which is a dream.

But he has to navigate the treacherous evil creatures lurking in the dark, e.g. Eddie Hearn

[4truth]

It could become a full title? This is the sort of talk that illustrates just how meaningless boxing titles have become.