Team Oleksandr Usyk issues bold response to Tyson Fury callout amid Anthony Joshua delays

Oleksandr Usyk will only consider ‘a concrete offer’ and ‘not statements in the press’ after Tyson Fury’s callout.

That’s the view of Usyk‘s manager Sergey Lapin, who has essentially brushed off ‘The Gypsy King’s’ plea for a trilogy with the Ukrainian former two-time undisputed champion.

AFP

This week, Fury continued his war of words against Anthony Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn, claiming their agreed fight was off because ‘AJ has s*** his pants again.’

The British heavyweight stars have signed a contract to fight by the end of the year, but a disagreement over whether it happens in the UK or US has stalled an announcement.

Fury said the delay ‘will only lead me’ to a fight against his former rival, telling Usyk, who defeated him twice in 2024, that ‘the ball is now in your court.’

But in a fresh response, Team Usyk are not remotely considering Fury’s words as anything serious.

Team Usyk respond to Fury

“Usyk is not Tyson’s backup plan,” Lapin told Sky Sports on Monday.

“If Fury needs an opponent, he should visit the Ready to Fight platform. They can help him find a worthy opponent.

“Oleksandr is always open to big challenges. But serious intentions are backed by a concrete offer, not statements in the press.”

Fury has repeatedly alleged that Team Joshua are holding up the deal to make the fight, with Matchroom’s Hearn adamant it should take place on British soil, as per AJ’s initial contract.

Hearn has even threatened legal action against TKO Group Holdings — the parent company of Zuffa Boxing and UFC, which Hearn says cannot promote the fight — for going behind his back to try to ‘lure’ Joshua into accepting a fight in the US.

TKO and Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh are pushing for Fury vs Joshua to take place at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden on a Friday to capitalise on primetime US viewership.

Getty

Hearn and Joshua are standing firm on the initial agreement, which states the fight must take place in the UK.

There is also the involvement of UFC CEO and Zuffa Boxing founder Dana White, who Fury thanked last week for ‘making this deal happen with Netflix and getting it over the line.’

White and Hearn have been going back and forth for months, with the pair disagreeing over who is promoting Fury vs Joshua.

While White has said numerous times he knows the date and location of the fight and that he did the deal for it, Hearn has pinned White’s involvement as resulting in no fight.

talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan believes the fight will land in the US and Hearn’s ‘patriotism’ for the UK being hosts is ‘absurd.’

Simon Jordan’s thoughts

“So what’s the real worth of this fight?” he said on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan.

Getty

“If you really boil it down to what the broadcasters will pay for it and what the revenue is from it, it’s sub £50million.

“But the only reason you can get this fight at a scale is that the Saudis want to pay for it because they think it’s a marquee fight and they want to have Netflix involved.

“But now we’re going to have this patriotism played out as if Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are the power of the people.

“Have you ever heard anything so absurd? I think it will be in America, and people will try and play it out because they can’t have Dana White stealing the march.

“Eddie Hearn telling everyone it’s a dirty game, as if it’s something he hasn’t been party to in his own way of operating at times, I suspect, is almost beyond comprehension for most.”

Watch Boxing on DAZN

*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenue

Sign up to DAZN to access the definitive subscription for boxing fans.

Upgrade to DAZN Ultimate from just £24.99/month, guaranteeing access to 185+ fights annually, a minimum of 12 pay-per-views at no extra cost, as well as every Lega Serie A match and other elite football access.

Alternatively, DAZN Standard is just £15.99/month, with the caveat you will have to pay for pay-per-view events.

Click here to sign up.