"I don't care about the WBC Belt" said Oleksandr Usyk
Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who currently holds the WBA, WBO, IBO, and IBF titles, has declared that he isn't concerned about acquiring the WBC title any longer. His primary focus, instead, is to take on the charismatic Tyson Fury in an unforgettable match. Usyk had to abandon protracted talks about a potential all-title fight with Fury at Wembley because of a dispute over the rematch clause's conditions. Now, his next bout is scheduled in Poland with Daniel Dubois, his WBA mandatory opponent, whereas Fury is set to square off against Francis Ngannou, an MMA fighter, in Saudi Arabia. This arrangement means that Usyk won't have the opportunity to claim the WBC title and add it to his collection this year. However, he emphasizes that his yearning to face Fury doesn't stem from his ambition to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. In reference to Fury, Usyk commented, “He’s beautiful, he’s funny. I don’t think about him at all, I just need to meet him in the ring. I don’t even care about the belt anymore. I need him, I need him, the WBC title is just a little extra motivation but the people and the fans just need to see us fight. We need to fight, we need to fight. People talk about this fight for 20, 30, 40 years so we need to have the fight.” Usyk is widely expected to come out on top in Wroclaw on August 26. Despite this, Frank Warren, Dubois' promoter, strongly believes that the London heavyweight can cause a major upset by knocking out the renowned Ukrainian fighter. Usyk acknowledged Dubois as a promising young fighter but was dismissive of Warren's promotional talk, stating, “Dubois is young and good, he’s a prospect but Frank Warren is a promoter so he has to talk a lot.” On the topic of whether Dubois poses a greater challenge than Anthony Joshua, whom Usyk has defeated twice, he refrained from making comparisons, simply stating: “Joshua is Olympic champion and two-time world champion. But I just need to prepare for the Dubois fight, I don’t need to compare opponents.”
