Tyson Fury knows better than most how a potential fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder could play out.
Fury has had five fights in total against Usyk and Wilder, with his two fights against the Ukrainian both ending in points defeats in 2024.
‘The Gypsy King’ had better success against Wilder though, with their first bout ending in a controversial draw before Fury won their second and third meetings by knockout.
That sparked a poor run of form for Wilder, after ‘The Bronze Bomber’ went on to lose two further fights against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, but that hasn’t stopped heavyweight king Usyk from calling out the American for a clash in 2026.
With that in mind, Fury has told DAZN Fight Club that undefeated Agit Kabayel is more deserving of a shot against Usyk and that he is only targeting Wilder because of his name.
“Agit’s [WBC] interim champion, so they should force Usyk to either defend or vacate. Me personally, I don’t think Usyk’s gonna fight anybody in those WBC rankings, because it doesn’t make any commercial sense. There’s no money in them fights. Is he gonna get paid for fighting Agit Kabayel? Is he gonna get paid for fighting Lawrence Okolie? No.
“When you’ve fought Tyson Fury and had GK money, you’re not going back down to fight anybody else for f–k all. So I can’t see Usyk defending against any of those names.
“That’s why he’s looking to fight a Wilder, or somebody with a popular name with a following. So, just like he vacated the WBO, he must vacate the WBC, and Agit will be upgraded to world champion. He can defend against the winner of [Lawrence] Okolie and [Moses] Itauma.”
Kabayel was victorious earlier this month as he stopped Damian Knyba inside three rounds to retain his WBC interim heavyweight title in Germany, but despite that win, it appears for now that a fight between Usyk and Wilder remains the frontrunner to happen next.
