OLEKSANDR USYK is hoping to return in an undisputed fight against Tyson Fury… but has lined up Deontay Wilder as alternative.
Usyk put himself in line for the first four-belt unification in heavyweight history after beating Anthony Joshua again.
But the pound-for-pound star ruled himself out until next year to rest and recover with friends and family after returning to war-torn Ukraine.
So Fury, 34, turned his attention to Joshua, 32, with the pair in talks to fight on December 3 in Cardiff.
Usyk still wants to face Fury, so long as the Gypsy King comes out of his next bout unscathed.
His manager Egis Klimas told talkSPORT: “Hopefully everything is going to line up and we will see.
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“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.”
American Wilder, 36, returns himself on October 15 against ex-sparring partner Robert Helenius, 38.
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And the former WBC champion is Usyk’s backup choice should Fury be unable to fight him.
Klimas said: “It is a very possible fight 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’.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
