Usyk already has Tyson Fury showdown on his mind ahead of Anthony Joshua rematch
Oleksandr Usyk is already eyeing up an undisputed clash with Tyson Fury later this year.
The WBO, IBF and WBA heavyweight champion will defend his titles in a rematch with Fury's fellow Brit Anthony Joshua on August 20 in Saudi Arabia.
WBC champion Fury insists he is retired after beating Dillian Whyte back in April but those around him remain convinced he will fight again to take on the winner of the Usyk and Joshua clash.
Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk was clever in the lead up in the first fight with Joshua by claiming "the best man would win and see you for the rematch" as he made it clear his fighter would win which would force 'AJ' to trigger the clause in the contract for a second fight.
Now Krassyuk has altered his phrase to predict Usyk will be fighting for the undisputed title next as his man prepares to get in the ring after fighting on the front line against Russian invasion of his home country of Ukraine.
READ MORE: Anthony Joshua's 'head is gone' before make or break Oleksandr Usyk rematch
He said: "Probably in February and March, we had to face the challenge of war in our country. We were not sure that this fight would take place.
"But finally, we put ourselves together, we made the decision to get into the fight, and now we are here representing our country Ukraine with pride in our hearts. We are representing out country here in the new destination of sports in the world here in Saudi Arabia. Let the best man win. We’ll see you again for the undisputed fight.”
Meanwhile, Joshua admits he is being motivated to get revenge against Oleksandr Usyk to revive a £150m super fight with Tyson Fury.
The Watford warrior ruined hopes of an undisputed showdown with the Gypsy King when he was outpointed by Ukrainian master Usyk last September. It came a month before Fury ruthlessly disposed of Deontay Wilder in their third meeting to defend the WBC heavyweight title.
Joshua, 32, and Fury were close to putting all four major titles on the line in Saudi Arabia just 12 months ago but Fury was forced into a third fight with Wilder and then 'AJ' lost the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
But now he gets the chance of revenge against Usyk and Fury admits he could be lured out of his claimed retirement to face the winner. Joshua is being fired up by such talk.
He said: "100 percent. It has to be. If I sat here and told you it’s not, I’d be lying to you, myself and the world. For the fans it’s a must-win fight, the man’s retired but who knows? Retirement doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to come back.
"I think if the opportunity presents itself, we will see if he comes back. but let me win this fight, then another door opens."
Joshua says he 'likes' Saudi Arabia and is unaware of 'allegations' against the Middle East country ahead of his rematch with Usyk taking place in Jeddah.
The pair will pocket in the region of £30m each after the Middle East state agreed to pay £65.4m to host the bout. But Saudi has been accused of using high-profile sport such as boxing, football, Formula 1 and golf to 'sportswash' it's poor public image owing to human rights violations.
Joshua has already fought in Saudi having outpointed Andy Ruiz Jnr back in December 2019 in Riyadh. He was heavily criticised for that event, too.
But at the press conference on Tuesday to announce his clash with Usyk, Joshua was again questioned on the controversial decision to allow the fight to take place in Saudi Arabia.
He said: "I don't know what that [sportswashing] is. I'm here to win the heavyweight champion of the world. I like Saudi. I think Saudi's good. I'm having a good time here. I'm treated really well.
"All that allegation stuff, for me, I'm not caught up in any of that stuff. I'm here to have a good time, mix with the local people, bring entertainment to Saudi."
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