Promoter Frank Warren says a trilogy match between Tyson Fury and unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has been agreed, as long as 'The Gypsy King' wins Saturday night's rematch in Saudi Arabia, live on DAZN.
Risking a Mega-fight
If Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) wins on Saturday, fans would rather see him move on and face Anthony Joshua or Daniel Dubois than go straight to a trilogy fight with Usyk. A third head-to-head fight can always happen later after Tyson fights the 35-year-old AJ, who looks very shaky at the moment after being blown out by Dubois in five rounds.
Given Joshua's vulnerable state, it would be a mistake for Fury to accept a trilogy match with Usyka. If Joshua is defeated again and Tyson is scheduled for a rematch with Oleksandr, it will take a lot of interest from the boxing public to see a Fury-Joshua matchup.
Great for all time?
Warren claims that if Fury, 36, defeats Usyk, it will make him one of the greatest of all time. That's a bit of a stretch as Gypsy King would still lack wins over high quality fighters who were still young when he beat them.
Fury's career best wins
- Vladimir Klitschko
- Deontay Wilder
- Dillian Whyte
- Derek Chisora
It would be hard to think that Fury's best wins make him one of the greatest boxing greats of all time. Even if he beats the 37-year-old Usyk on Saturday night, his resume would still be too thin to put him among boxing's greats, and definitely at #1. It would be a joke and no one would take it seriously.
At this point, Fury's first career win is a narrow 12-round victory over 39-year-old Wladimir Klitschko. If you have followed Wlad's fighter, you would recognize that he is a faded fighter until the moment when the then 27-year-old Fury fought him.
Try to imagine where Fury will be physically when he's 39 and fighting one of the best guys. You won't be able to argue that he was at his best and you would have to discredit any victory of the younger fighter over the old shell of Fury. This is why it is impossible to include Fury among the boxing greats of all time because his resume is too weak.
Trilogy contract
“It is because it is contracted, and whatever happens, it will be the case if Tyson wins, provided no one withdraws,” promoter Frank Warren told Boxing news about the arranged match of the trilogy between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
“A lot of journalists after the last fight … most of them said that Usyk is now the best heavyweight of his generation, that he deserves to be up there with Ali, Lewis and Marciano and all these guys who are coming back.
If Tyson beats him (Usyk), then it becomes Tyson, and I think Tyson is still there. The fact that he is a two-time world champion (title wins over Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder), the fact that he won his titles on visits to foreign countries or his adopted country (Germany for the fight against the 39-year-old Wladimir). He (Fury) is there. He is a great, great fighter. He's been through this, he's an even better fighter.
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