By: Sean Crose
The first two fights are universally seen as being definitive. Close, but definitive. While it was true Tyson Fury may have given Oleksandr Usyk a true challenge, it’s hard to find someone aside from Fury himself who would argue Usyk didn’t deserve the judge’s nod at the end of their two heavyweight title battles. Fury, however, is nothing if not an assertive man, and so, on the verge of a comeback fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov, he’s making it clear he wants another crack at the brilliant Usyk. “He wants to be the best,” Fury’s promoter Frank Warren, told Sky Sports. “That’s how he’s always been. He’s told me he wants to fight Usyk again.”
As far as Warren is concerned, it’s all rather simple. “Tyson’s a fighting man,” he said. “He loves it. He goes in the gym and when he gets down to serious training, he wants to see an end result and the end result for him is fighting.” Fury may love the fight game, but will Usyk – or the public, for that matter – want a third fight to transpire? The word “definitive” once again enters the conversation. Did the first two battles, quality affairs to be sure, really scream for a third act? Perhaps that’s up for Usyk to decide.
“”For me,” Warren admitted, “he (Fury) doesn’t need to fight. He’s cemented his legacy. But he is fighting on and he’s going to be a great addition to the heavyweight scene. He’s a great personality. The crowds come out for him, this is a big, big moment for his career.” While this is true, there’s no doubt that time always moves forward – and Fury is no longer a young man at the age of 37. It’s something Warren is well aware of. “If he is going to come back,” he told Sky Sports, “I’d much rather he do it now than in four or five years’ time when his powers will probably be diminished then.”
Before Fury fights Usyk or anyone else for that matter, he first has to get past Makhmudov in April. “This is a tough comeback fight for him,” Warren admits, “but if he comes through this we’ll see where we go.” Fury, then, may have his work cut out for him when he slips between the ropes for the first time in years. As they say, it’s all about the fighter in front of you.
