Usyk's promoter on the nuances of negotiations with Fury

Unified World Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk retained his WBO, WBA and IBF titles with a split decision victory in his rematch with Anthony Joshua last Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The fight apparently marks the end of Usyk's partnership with Matchroom Boxing, a British promotional company led by Eddie Hearn, whose main client is Joshua. Matchroom has promoted Usyk in his last five fights since 2018, when the Ukrainian fought Tony Bellew for all cruiserweight titles.

Alexander Krasyuk, Usyk's longtime promoter, indicated that his ward no longer has a contractual relationship with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing.

"No, the rematch commitment has been fulfilled and we have no other commitment to Matchroom," Krasyuk said in an interview with BoxingScene.com.

“Our co-promotion agreement with Matchroom expired after the fight with Derek Chisora,” Krasyuk added, referring to Usyk’s fight with the British veteran in October 2020.

"After that, we became official WBO contenders, and signed an agreement to fight with AJ, including a rematch."

Shortly after the victory over Joshua Usyk, he said that in the next fight he wants to meet Tyson Fury, the owner of the WBC world title, otherwise he will think about ending his career. Fury has long claimed he's retired but looks set to take on the Ukrainian. The Usyk-Fury fight could have been a fight for the title of absolute heavyweight champion.

Bob Arum, Fury's promoter, has long insisted that negotiations with Usyk will go relatively smoothly because he is friends with the Ukrainian and because he has a working relationship with Usyk's manager, Egis Klimas, who has several clients under contract with Arum's Top Rank. including former world champion in three weight categories Vasily Lomachenko.

“Bob Arum is in touch with Egis Klimas,” Krasyuk said, answering a question about the possibility of negotiations between Usyk and Fury. "But don't forget that Fury has Frank Warren as a promoter outside of the US."