"Biggest joke ever" - Oleksandr Usyk's manager slams 'joker in circus' Tyson Fury amid Francis Ngannou fight announcement
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is set to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 28. Oleksandr Usyk’s manager Egis Klimas is not very happy with this crossover boxing match. Klimas expressed his disagreement with the fight on Twitter recently.
Top Rank Boxing announced the news of Fury vs Ngannou on their official Twitter handle. The caption to the post read:
‘WHO IS THE BADDEST MAN ON THE PLANET? Find out Oct. 28’.
Fury currently holds the WBC heavyweight title. To become the consensus ‘baddest man’ in the boxing world, he will have to beat the unified WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO champion Oleksandr Usyk. However, the ‘Gypsy King’ chose a high-profile crossover fight with Ngannou over Usyk, prompting the latter’s manager Egis Klimas to launch a scathing attack on Tyson Fury on Twitter.
“The biggest joke ever in boxing!!! I am sorry it’s not boxing it’s circus @Tyson_Fury becoming from positive person in boxing to negative joker in circus,” Egis Klimas tweeted.
Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou has been chasing a crossover boxing match with Tyson Fury for a very long time. The prospect of this fight had a positive response from Fury as well.
Ngannou left the UFC and signed a deal with MMA promotion PFL a few months ago. However, he will make his not make his PFL debut before 2024. Fury has been aiming for a return later this year, which presented a great opportunity to make this fight happen.
Tyson Fury’s negotiations with Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua failed in recent months
Tyson Fury is coming off a TKO win over Derek Chisora in December 2022. Fellow champion Oleksandr Usyk and former champion Anthony Joshua were the obvious next choices for the ‘Gypsy King.’ However, boxing promoter Frank Warren recently confirmed that Fury will not be fighting Usyk anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua will rematch Dilian White in August 2023. Oleksandr Usyk has been confirmed to fight mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois. He will put his WBO, WBA, and IBF titles on the line against Dubois.