By: Sean Crose
Okay, stranger things have happened but learning the chill Oleksandr Usyk is having serious discussions with the brash Dana White has caught me a bit off guard. There’s good reason for the two men to talk: Usyk has parted ways with his manager and White is certainly wanting to get deeply involved in the sweet science, and in a huge way. Still, although the two men may have more in common than some might think, there’s little doubt they come across as something of an odd pairing. This is boxing, however, where even the oddest pairings can lead to serious success.
“There is contact, there is dialogue, and interest exists” said Team Usyk’s Sergey Lapin. Speaking to talkSPORT, Lapin stated that “details aren’t for the public right now. Let’s say a few doors are open and if format, numbers, and timing align, the market could see a move nobody expects.” Although remaining tight lipped on the matter, Lapin makes it clear that Usyk and the rest of his team are taking White quite seriously. “Everyone has seen what he did,” Lapin said of White. “He turned “old MMA” into the global UFC machine.”
While this is true, It’s also been said that the UFC is in a bit of a rut right now as far as pay-per-view buys and the lack of stars goes. On top of that, White has always genuinely been a big boxing fan. The point is there’s a lot of reason for him to want to get into the fight game in an enormous way. As things stand White and Saudi Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh are running Zuffa Boxing, which they’re aiming to make a major name in the boxing business. What better way to make a mark on the industry than to sign up the most dominant heavyweight since at least Wladimir Klitschko, a man many consider to be one of the greatest heavyweight titlists of all time, Oleksandr Usyk?
Not only has Usyk been the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, he’s also been the undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world. On top of all that he’s beaten the likes of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury twice a piece. He is unquestionably the best heavyweight of his generation, which was something of a surprise at first, but the more you see the man fight the more you understand just how good he is. Usyk doesn’t want to be boxing forever though. He’s going to want to pack it in soon enough. So whatever deal he gets is going to have to be a good one. No doubt Dana and Turki won’t have a problem getting the money together.
If of course, these talks prove fruitful.
