After defeating Anthony Joshua for the second time, Oleksandr Usyk has thrown down the challenge to Britain’s Tyson Fury to come out of retirement and fight him for the undisputed world heavyweight boxing title.
The Ukrainian made clear he was only interested in fighting Fury after outpointing Joshua for the second time to retain the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Fury, the WBC champion, announced in April he had promised his wife he would retire but had also declared a long-standing interest in fighting Joshua.
His promoter, Frank Warren, said this month that Fury was showing signs of “itchy feet” and was keen to get back into the ring. “I’m sure that Tyson Fury is not retired yet,” the Ukrainian told the crowd through a ringside interpreter when asked about a potential clash. “I am convinced he wants to fight me.