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Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk says he would like to see him do well for the undisputed championship after his 12-round unanimous decision victory over Tyson Fury in their rematch on Saturday night.
They will have to wait for the winner of the Feb. 22 bout between IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker before they can begin negotiations for an undisputed championship with Usyk (23-0, 12 KOs).
Usyk says he’s open to any fight, and it’s up to Turki Alalshikh if he wants to fight the Dubois-Parker winner. Oleksandr has no one else to fight, and that would be very important for him at heavyweight. He has talked about wanting to drop down to cruiserweight, but won’t if he can get a bigger money fight against Dubois or Parker.
Usyk’s domain
“It was a beautiful performance. I’m actually at a loss for (words) for this reason. I don’t have much to say. He was an encyclopedia of boxing,” promoter Alex Krassyuk said iFL TVtalking about his fighter Oleksandr Usyk after his victory over Tyson Fury on Saturday night in Riyadh.
“In 12 rounds, he showed how boxing is done. So he did it from the basement. He was laying the bricks. Putting windows and the roof, and he will have created the building,” Krassyuk said of the performance of ‘Usyk.
“We have been fighting in our opponents’ backyard since 2016. This is nothing new for us. It’s a comfortable environment. We got used to it.
“Probably relax, get your mind back and get back to training,” Krassyuk said when asked what Fury should do next. “He is a great champion. It’s not about what I’d like to see. It’s about what the boxing world would like to see. If they’re happy to see this fight, that’s perfect.”
Fury is NOT retiring because he wants to fight Anthony Joshua, and you can understand that. There is a lot of money for him to face AJ, and it would help him redeem himself after losing back-to-back fights against Usyk.
“For me, I would love to see Usyk undisputed No. 3,” Krassyuk said, making it clear he wants to see Usyk face the winner of the Feb. 22 contest between IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker .
Turki Alalashikh also wants the undisputed fight between Usyk and the winner of Dubois vs. Parker, so there’s no problem with that fight happening as long as something unforeseen happens. Anthony Joshua won’t be a problem as he has shown no desire to fight for a rematch with Dubois and knows better than to face Usyk a third time.
Fury’s beard controversy
“It’s not an issue that affects the outcome of the fight,” Krassyuk said when asked if Fury’s beard was an issue for them in this fight. “It’s just a matter of formality whether we follow the rules or not. The rules say you have to trim your beard so that the bulk doesn’t affect your punch.
“Every organization has this, but it doesn’t clarify the specific length of the beard, and for that reason, you can’t tell the boundary of where it comes from legal to illegal,” Krassyuk said.
It’s impossible to know whether or not Fury’s beard cushioned the impact of Usyk’s punches enough to prevent him from getting hurt. On a couple of occasions, Fury’s head jerked back and his eyes went blank as Usyk hit hard. It is unknown if these shots would do more damage if Fury were clean shaven. You still wish you had seen Fury shave.
What will be interesting to see is if Fury decides to shave not because he is not fighting. If he does, you have to believe he grew a beard to use as a fortification to protect him from punches.
