Oleksandr Usyk was not impressed by the boxing skills on show from Tyson Fury in Saturday’s thrilling win over Deontay Wilder, while his promoter believes the Brit would struggle in an undisputed fight.
The Gypsy King retained his WBC belt on a dramatic night in Las Vegas, surviving two knockdowns in the fourth round to finally KO his American opponent in the 11th round.
Fury’s victory has already been hailed as the fight of the year, but Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, has revealed that the three-belt Ukrainian heavyweight champ was rather less enthralled by what he witnessed.
Asked if he has spoken to Usyk about the fight, Krassyuk told Behind The Gloves: ‘I did, a couple of times.
‘Most people who understand boxing say the same thing: great fight, but very poor boxing match. A spectacular, Spartan-style fight between two warriors, but boxing-wise it didn’t look good.’
Asked if those were Usyk’s words, the promoter replied: ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said, “It looked like two big guys came to the ring to kill each other”.’
Krassyuk went on to criticise the performances and conditioning of both Fury and Wilder and says the lineal champ would only have a ‘very small chance’ of beating Usyk in his current state.
He continued: ‘The thing I was surprised with was that it was a fight but not a boxing match. Deontay Wilder is a puncher and we did not expect much boxing skills from him.
‘But the biggest surprise for me was Fury’s style, because according to what I saw Wilder was very tired after the fourth round and it took Fury almost six rounds, or even more, to finish the fight with a guy who was very tired.
‘And during those six rounds he took some severe punches. I did like the atmosphere of the fight, but boxing-wise probably not the best match.
‘If either of them [Fury or Wilder] come to Usyk in the shape they showed on Saturday night both have very small chances.
‘Some people say there is no chance [for Usyk] because Fury is so big and so strong and so heavy. Other people say that Usyk has all the chances because he’s so fast, he’s so small and he’s so skilled. That’s why we love boxing, that’s why we want those kind of matches to happen.
‘From my perspective, if Fury comes to fight Usyk in the shape he fought Wilder, not the best option for him definitely, one hundred percent.’
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