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All that is apparently standing in the way of Oleksandr Usyk from getting his shot at the undisputed heavyweight championship is the green light from Tyson Fury.
Egis Klimas, the longtime manager of the WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF heavyweight champion from Ukraine, suggested in a recent interview that they had done their part in negotiations — “everything” — to see their charge take on WBC heavyweight titlist Tyson Fury next year. Fury is backed by Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions and Bob Arum of Top Rank.
“Everything is done from our side,” Klimas told SecondsOut.com. “Everything. Absolutely. So it’s only for one guy who can say yes, we’re going [to do it], and that’s Fury.”
An undisputed fight between Manchester, England’s Fury and Usyk gained traction shortly after Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua on points in their rematch in August. After the fight, Usyk went so far as to say that he would retire if he could not land an immediate fight with Fury, comments that he has since walked back.
Still, Usyk and his team have made it clear that a full unification of the heavyweight titles remains their top priority. Klimas recently shut down talk of Usyk fighting the likes of Deontay Wilder or Andy Ruiz, citing Usyk’s desire for the WBC belt.
Meanwhile, Fury is scheduled to fight once more before the end of the year against Derek Chisora in a trilogy match on Dec. 3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
If Chisora, who is a sizable underdog in that fight, ends up defeating Fury, Klimas said they would then direct their efforts to make a fight with the Zimbabwe-born Briton.
“Then we’re going to go and unify titles with Chisora,” Klimas said.
Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), of course, had defeated Chisora (33-12, 23 KOs) fairly comprehensively in 2020 via unanimous decision. Despite that, Klimas said there is no telling what could happen in a rematch.
“Yes, we did [beat Chisora], but boxing is boxing,” Klimas said. “One time you beat, one time you can lose, one time you can draw, all kind of different happenings.”