Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury were both in attendance to see Anthony Joshua lose to Daniel Dubois, with their rematch in December the next big fight on the horizon
Oleksandr Usyk has revealed he shared pleasantries with Tyson Fury as the two rivals attended Anthony Joshua’s bout with Daniel Dubois.
Dubois knocked out Joshua in round five, having dominated throughout their fight at Wembley Stadium. The next big fight on the horizon is Usyk’s clash against Fury in December. The duo were both in attendance to take in the fight at Wembley, with Dubois likely waiting for the winner. The real mind games are still yet to get underway, though there appears to be a distinct lack of animosity between the rivals.
They met at Wembley ahead of Saturday’s fight before taking their seats for Dubois’ win. And Usyk revealed afterwards that they shared some small talk, before insisting he would be winning December’s bout. “A little bit [they spoke] yeah. ‘How are you’ blah blah blah. This is my friend. Of course, he’s like my brother. I too love my London fans. When I win the second time with Tyson Fury, I don’t know what’s next, I want to rest with my family,” he told Boxing King Media.
Fury refused to be drawn too much on his meeting with Usyk or their fight in December. Instead he was keen to celebrate Dubois’ success after the 27-year-old caused a major upset to keep hold of his world championship belt. “He [Dubois] did a fantastic job. He did a very good job and fair play to young Dan. Everybody wrote him off you know, coming here he was the world champion and everyone chatted like he was bum and he showed what he’s made of and it’s very good for him, fantastic, fair play,” he said.
“It’s heavyweight boxing boys it happens, s*** happens. You get knocked spark out. It could have been me. In the heavyweight division it’s what happens. You’re one punch away from being smashed. “What went wrong is what always going wrong in heavyweight boxing: good right hand to the end of the chin. That was it. It’s up to the man, whatever he wants to do. If he’s got good ambition to come back then he’s got to do it.
“He’ll have to make his own decisions, he’s a big boy. I thought it was a 50/50 fight. Age don’t wait for anybody. You don’t see many heavyweights get hit, get knocked down and continue.” Joshua meanwhile was left to rue a defeat that may well spell the end of his career at the top of the sport. He did insist though he would be back in the ring, dismissing suggestions of retiring.
“We rolled the dice for the third time. That’s 13 world title fights, not every one has been successful. But they have all been fun and entertaining. We are trying to create history for British boxing and I think we are doing that,” he said. “People will ask if I still want to continue fighting. Of course I want to continue fighting. We took as shot at success and came up short – what does that mean now? That we will run away? Or are we going to live to fight another day? I am a warrior.”
