Oleksandr Usyk has called out Tyson Fury, saying he does want to face him in an undisputed heavyweight world championship clash and labelling his talk of retirement as “just a game”.
Fury, the WBC heavyweight champion, had floated the prospect of retiring but instructed his promotional team last week to inform the WBC that he intends to resume his boxing career.
Having set a September 1 deadline for his prospective showdown with Usyk to be made, Fury took to Twitter on Friday and said the WBO, WBA and IBF champion was “running, hiding”, mockingly labelling him a “middleweight”.
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But, Usyk appears confident the fight will happen, telling Sky Sports via an interpreter: “He wants to fight against me. He wants people to talk about him.
“He hasn’t retired yet, it’s just a game – ‘I’m leaving boxing’, ‘I’m coming back’. He still wants to earn money.
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“All the fanciful comments against me, he probably thinks it will touch me. But it won’t
“I take it like the crow arguing with the wolf sitting from the tree… the reality is that if the crow was close to the wolf, she would keep silent.
“Tyson Fury loves to talk. All of that blah blah blah.”
Fury vows to ‘obliterate’ Usyk in heavyweight battle
Meanwhile, in Fury’s foul-mouthed tirade towards Usyk on Twitter, the ‘Gypsy King’ described himself as a “7ft behemoth that will absolutely destroy you”.
Fury said: “Usyk, middleweight, you say you want the WBC, well it’s held by the Gypsy King, and it’s held tightly. Grasped tight.
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“All roads lead to a 7ft behemoth that will absolutely destroy you, middleweight. You will get smashed to bits.
“You said you wanted to fight me after you bit the bodybuilder [Anthony Joshua]… but now you’re running, hiding, saying you’ve got injuries.
“You’ve let your mouth go, now let’s see if you can back it up, middleweight.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s December, April, or August next year. The outcome will be the same, I will obliterate you.”
Usyk: Joshua made a mistake and mustn’t give up
Usyk retained his WBO, WBA and IBF titles courtesy of a spectacular split decision rematch victory over Anthony Joshua almost a fortnight ago.
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In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Joshua flung two championship belts from the ring and marched momentarily out of the arena before returning to grab the microphone, not initially giving Usyk, the champion, the chance to speak.
Usyk described Joshua’s actions as “a mistake” and urged the 33-year-old to keep fighting.
“It’s wrong to think that he had stolen my moment,” Usyk said. “He said what he wanted. Thank God the victory was mine.
“Anthony cannot be judged by what he did – he is a top-level athlete and a good person. He made a mistake.
“I’m sure he did it with no anger. He was disappointed with his defeat and he was sad.
“I understand that he wanted to win against me, but Anthony can’t give up. He must go forwards.
“If he needs my help, I will go to his camp and help him. He is not 40-years-old, he is 33, so he should keep on working. Anthony, don’t stop.”
The biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing – Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall – is live on Sky Sports on Saturday September 10. Be part of history and buy tickets for the London showdown here.