0:49
Oleksandr Usyk says Anthony Joshua must now fight him next
Oleksandr Usyk has given his sternest warning yet that he will not wait for Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury before demanding his own shot.
Usyk reinforced his status as the mandatory challenger to Joshua’s WBO heavyweight title by outpointing Derek Chisora on Saturday night and intends to fight for the belt in 2021.
But IBF, WBA and WBO champion Joshua must come through his next defence against Kubrat Pulev on December 12, live on Sky Sports Box Office, then plans two fights against WBC title holder Fury next year.
0:59 The best of the action from Oleksandr Usyk’s unanimous points decision win over Derek Chisora in their heavyweight fight
3:23 ‘Three out of 10!’ Oleksandr Usyk rates his own performance
The victorious Usyk told Sky Sports News the morning after beating Chisora: “I am the mandatory for Joshua so he has two options.
“One; to fight me.
“Two; to vacate and to go and fight Fury.
“Either he fights me or relinquishes.
“I am waiting. I am ready.”
Asked if he felt ready to become just the third boxer to add a heavyweight title to the cruiserweight belts that he accumulated, Usyk said: “That’s true.”
Immediately after beating Chisora, he explained his goal: “Not just world champion, the undisputed world champion [is my aim].”
Prior to the fight with Chisora, Usyk’s co-promoter Alex Krassyuk, who works alongside Eddie Hearn, told Sky Sports: “Usyk is already in AJ’s head.
“Their fight will happen anyway, this is just a matter of time.
“AJ knows that this guy is a real threat for him.”
2:42 Carl Froch says he would not be confident putting Oleksandr Usyk against a big heavyweight like Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury.
1:02 Tony Bellew says there would not have been too many complaints if Derek Chisora had been given the decision against Oleksandr Usyk
AJ vs Fury is the priority
Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports before Usyk beat Chisora: “If Joshua beats Pulev he wants to fight Fury and I don’t see any fight getting in the way of that.
“If Usyk wins, and Joshua beats Pulev, the ruling states that Joshua should fight Usyk next.
“But if Joshua wins he will apply to the WBO and say: ‘I would like to fight Fury for the undisputed title’.
“The WBO can say yes or no. If they say no, we go to Usyk and ask: ‘Will you let us [fight Fury] maybe in April’.
“I really want AJ vs Fury to be for the undisputed title. The belts are important to Joshua. He hasn’t accumulated these belts and paid the sanctioning fees just to throw them away. He wants to be undisputed.
“But we also respect Usyk as mandatory challenger.
“AJ would like to fight Usyk as well. He thinks it’s an amazing challenge. He thinks Usyk is a great fighter.”
Sourse: skysports.com
