Oleksandr Usyk reacts to Anthony Joshua agreeing Tyson Fury fight in December

Oleksandr Usyk insists he isn’t ‘p****d off’ to see Tyson Fury fight Anthony Joshua next, revealing Deontay Wilder to be his next ideal opponent.

Usyk turned in another masterful performance against Joshua in September, retaining his IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles after outpointing the Briton for the second time in 11 months.

Joshua has since been offered an immediate route back into the world title picture, accepting a deal to fight Fury for the WBC belt on 3 December.

Fury had initially hoped to fight Usyk to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion before the end of the year but after a draining 2022, the undefeated Ukrainian insisted he would not be hurried back into the ring.

Reacting to news that Fury vs Joshua is almost done, Usyk told The Ring Magazine: ‘I don’t have many feelings about (Fury and Joshua fighting). I don’t really care if Fury wants to fight somebody. My team is working on getting me back in the ring.

‘And no, no, I’m not p****d off at all (about being bypassed by Fury for Joshua). The bigger problem is Tyson Fury is not letting fans see one of the best historical bouts in boxing history.

‘That’s his fault. Not mine. So, I’m not pissed off at all. Tyson Fury can fight whoever he wants to fight.

‘From the standpoint of sportsmanship, of course it’s not correct (that Fury fight Joshua instead of him).’

Usyk had hoped to fight Fury in early 2023 but now has his sights set on former champion Deontay Wilder.

‘The Bronze Bomber’ has not fought since his second defeat to Fury last October and will make his return to the ring against Robert Helenius on 15 October – with Usyk planning to be ringside in New York that night.

When asked who he would like to fight next, Usyk replied, ‘Deontay Wilder.’

Usyk added: ‘Wilder is a dangerous fighter, and that fight would most likely be in the United States.’

Usyk’s manager Egis Kilmas meanwhile confirmed they will progress with their plans to fight Wilder next year, insisting they will not wait around for Fury after countless contradictions from ‘The Gypsy King’ over his future.

‘Usyk is the heavyweight world champion and look how many statements Fury has made these last few months, he’s retiring, he’s not retiring, he’s fighting Usyk, he’s not Usyk, and now he’s fighting Joshua, you really don’t know what Fury is going to do next,’ Klimas explained.

‘If you look in his past at everything that happened, Fury always caused a problem when it came to getting an undisputed world champion. He’s unpredictable.’

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