Deontay Wilder Is Realistic Option For Oleksandr Usyk

Oleksandr Usyk’s manager said there’s only one realistic option for the unified heavyweight champion.

And that’s Deontay Wilder.

Egis Klimas, Usyk’s manager, said that since WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is negotiating a December fight with Anthony Joshua, Wilder is likely to be Usyk’s next opponent – given he defeats Robert Helenius on October 15.

“It is a very possible fight,” Klimas told Talk Sport.

“And actually, [Usyk] called and said, ‘if Fury’s not available and we cannot fight Fury, I would like to fight Deontay Wilder’. So, I asked him why and he said, ‘because he’s a risky fighter and I like that.”

Many boxing fans expected that an undisputed heavyweight title fight between Fury and Usyk were next up, but Fury, his team and Joshua’s team, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, have been in a public dispute about getting their contract signed so that the two heavyweights – Fury and Joshua — can meet.

It’s unclear if the contract has been signed or what the exact deadline is.

Nonetheless, Usyk made it clear that he wants to fight Fury before he hangs up his gloves. However, the Ukrainian boxer said that he will not fight until next year – to recover from his latest fights.

He defeated Joshua twice in the Brit’s home country.

“Hopefully everything is going to line up [with the Fury fight] and we will see,” Klimas told Talk Sport.

“I’m hearing [Fury] wants to fight on December 3, which we don’t have a big problem with. But, on the other side, it’s boxing and things happen, breaking hands, breaking legs and stuff like that, so it’s hard to predict, but fingers crossed we are going to be ready. From our side, we are going to be ready 100 percent, so if the fight does not happen, don’t blame our team.”