Boxing in 2023

First topic message reminder :

I know boxing has served up very little in the way of quality matchups at the highest level lately, but along with Davis-Garcia in the Spring we do appear to be on the verge of another exciting announcement as Stephen Fulton will reportedly be travelling to Japan to defend his Super-Bantamweight titles against Noaya Inoue.

I mentioned last year that this was one fight I'd love to see Inoue taking. If you believe the figures being bandied about, Fulton will earn around $3 million for this defence, which might explain why he's travelling despite being the defending champion - but good on him! Fair play to Inoue as well for going straight for the (probable on balance) top man at 122 as he looks to conquer yet another weight class having sewn up all the belts at Bantam.

As a career 122-pounder Fulton is probably the biggest guy Inoue will have fought, but he also brings a superb engine to the table along with a good array of shots and the ability to string them together proficiently. He's good on the inside, can work the high-low and shorten the punches and, although he's not a big hitter, he doesn't waste much as he's aggressive with what he does throw.

That said, he gets hit a hell of a lot and isn't that effective at range, which is going to be a huge problem for him here assuming Inoue's power and timing isn't suddenly blunted at Super-Bantam. Fulton was buzzed once or twice against Figueroa and showed he's tough and can take / regroup from a big shot, but taking shots from Figueroa and taking them from Inoue are two very different things.

Still, if they can get this over the line it will be a proper fight between two high-performing and peak world champions to look forward to.

No name Bertie wrote:In the modern era of boxing willingness to fight particular other elite boxers has to now be considered when considering a boxers "greatness".   Both Wilder and Fury avoid other boxers.

On Fury's side, I think this is over played tbh. AJ manages to a similar level....he just gets beat more.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:In the modern era of boxing willingness to fight particular other elite boxers has to now be considered when considering a boxers "greatness".   Both Wilder and Fury avoid other boxers.

On Fury's side, I think this is over played tbh. AJ manages to a similar level....he just gets beat more.

It's downplayed. AJ had the balls to fight Usyk twice, Fury however was more than happy to fight Chisora.

Much as I think Fury is to blame for the proposed April 29th Wembley date not happening, I still think the Usyk fight happens later in 2023 once the Saudis can commit to a venue. I'll grudgingly give him the benefit of the doubt - for now. If another six months pass and mum's still the word, then he hasn't got much of a defence against the ducking accusations. At that point you'd really have to question what's stopping him from taking on a smaller man who is 36, has been fighting at yearly intervals since 2018, has already clearly lost a step from his Cruiserweight peak and who hasn't so much as knocked an opponent down in 43 rounds as a Heavyweight.

He could show a bit of good faith, and prove he's not just coasting for low-risk pay days and cheap publicity for the remainder of his career, by taking a fight against Joyce in the Summer once Joyce (touch wood) gets past Zhang next month - problem is, you just know that's not likely to happen either.

So all in all, Fury is going to be getting a kicking from the fans for the foreseeable future. Chisora, this pantomime with Usyk and the possible failure to meet any other really deserving or interesting challenger in 2023 all in succession would be too much for all but his biggest fans to withstand.

Soul Requiem wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:In the modern era of boxing willingness to fight particular other elite boxers has to now be considered when considering a boxers "greatness".   Both Wilder and Fury avoid other boxers.

On Fury's side, I think this is over played tbh. AJ manages to a similar level....he just gets beat more.

It's downplayed. AJ had the balls to fight Usyk twice, Fury however was more than happy to fight Chisora.

And Wilder 3 times.....like AJ would ever take on Wilder.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:In the modern era of boxing willingness to fight particular other elite boxers has to now be considered when considering a boxers "greatness".   Both Wilder and Fury avoid other boxers.

On Fury's side, I think this is over played tbh. AJ manages to a similar level....he just gets beat more.

It's downplayed. AJ had the balls to fight Usyk twice, Fury however was more than happy to fight Chisora.

And Wilder 3 times.....like AJ would ever take on Wilder.

Oh wow he's fought Wilder 3 times, bravo to Tyson for that.

AJ would fight Wilder without hesitation, it takes two to tango.

Let's agree to disagree on that one....

Soul Requiem wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:In the modern era of boxing willingness to fight particular other elite boxers has to now be considered when considering a boxers "greatness".   Both Wilder and Fury avoid other boxers.

On Fury's side, I think this is over played tbh. AJ manages to a similar level....he just gets beat more.

It's downplayed. AJ had the balls to fight Usyk twice, Fury however was more than happy to fight Chisora.

And Wilder 3 times.....like AJ would ever take on Wilder.

Oh wow he's fought Wilder 3 times, bravo to Tyson for that.

AJ would fight Wilder without hesitation, it takes two to tango.

Wilder is a better win than anything AJ has......Add in Wlad who had been unbeaten for years (Sloppy seconds doesn't count)...

AJ was serious he'd go straight back in against Whyte who struggled with Franklin and looks finished but No...Looking to rinse the fans first and having 3 defeats in 5 fights doesn't merit big nights for low risk..

I think Wilder beats the Bruno clone personally.....Sure he is unschooled but AJ has never been hard to hit.......Povetkin...Whyte..Ruiz...and Usyk will tell you that..

Povetkin and an old Wlad are better wins than Wilder. I'd take the versions AJ beat to comfortably stop Wilder.

Wilder was set to face Povetkin in Russia remember? It wasn’t Wilder’s fault that Povetkin tested dirty…

I see these debates regarding AJ v Fury's fight records come around quite a lot and let's be honest, it's somewhere in middle.

AJ's isn't as impressive as people make out and Fury's isn't as bad.....I would personally put them on similar level with Fury shading it due to the 3 fights with Wilder (the most dangerous puncher in the division over the last decade perhaps?).

I think a lot depends how you rate Wilder, and the I've found traditionalists or people with a bit of boxing experience......tend not to rate him at all (I may be wrong here).

Sgt_Pooly wrote:I see these debates regarding AJ v Fury's fight records come around quite a lot and let's be honest, it's somewhere in middle.

AJ's isn't as impressive as people make out and Fury's isn't as bad.....I would personally put them on similar level with Fury shading it due to the 3 fights with Wilder (the most dangerous puncher in the division over the last decade perhaps?).

I think a lot depends how you rate Wilder, and the I've found traditionalists or people with a bit of boxing experience......tend not to rate him at all (I may be wrong here).

Because he has a punch and that's basically it, everything else from the bottom to the top is poor. He's been one of the most protected fighters even when he was champion and as seen with Fury, once his power fails him he's absolutely stuck. I'd take AJ to beat him 9/10.

But lets be honest, they're all protected these days, by now we should have been having rematches and round robins with Wilder/Joshua/Fury and Usyk plus A.N other, whoever would/could step up.

State of the game these days and won't be long till it's replaced with the youtubers.

Usyk vs Fury
Saudi Arabia: According to reports - Usyk's team agreed terms with the Saudi Prince.  Tyson Fury's team rejected terms with the Saudi Prince - not enough money offered.

London Wembley: According to Usyk's team yesterday - they said they would accept 50 - 50 of the total pot of money made.  Tyson Fury's team rejected it.   Usyk's team offered 60:40 for the winner.  Tyson Fury's team rejected it.  According to Usyk's team they think Tyson Fury is not interested in fighting Usyk in late April / early May and is purposely pricing himself out.

Comment from an irritated Tyson Fury fan:  we went to see Fury vs Chisora and supported him because Fury said the fight was to keep him busy in preparation for the Usyk fight in early 2023.  We now feel cheated given what we have been hearing from the Tyson Fury camp in negotiating the Fury vs Usyk fight.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Wilder was set to face Povetkin in Russia remember? It wasn’t Wilder’s fault that Povetkin tested dirty…

That failed test has always been a bone of contention for me. Yes Povetkin tested positive for Meldonium but it's not quite as simple as that; trace amounts of a previously allowed substance makes it hard to know if it was deliberate or not.

Soul Requiem wrote:Povetkin and an old Wlad are better wins than Wilder. I'd take the versions AJ beat to comfortably stop Wilder.

They aren't though are they.......Wilder for all his limitations was a respected champion..........Wlad and Povetkin were a combined 82 years between them...

Fury had already done a younger Wlad easier than AJ's sloppy seconds...

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:Povetkin and an old Wlad are better wins than Wilder. I'd take the versions AJ beat to comfortably stop Wilder.

They aren't though are they.......Wilder for all his limitations was a respected champion..........Wlad and Povetkin were a combined 82 years between them...

Fury had already done a younger Wlad easier than AJ's sloppy seconds...

Wilder being younger than them doesn't actually make him better and i'd argue against being a respected champion, he's largely been a figure of fun throughout his career.

Soul Requiem wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:Povetkin and an old Wlad are better wins than Wilder. I'd take the versions AJ beat to comfortably stop Wilder.

They aren't though are they.......Wilder for all his limitations was a respected champion..........Wlad and Povetkin were a combined 82 years between them...

Fury had already done a younger Wlad easier than AJ's sloppy seconds...

Wilder being younger than them doesn't actually make him better and i'd argue against being a respected champion, he's largely been a figure of fun throughout his career.

He is the favourite with the oddsmakers 10/11 to beat AJ....and he is 4/9 to beat Ruiz....

For a figure of fun the Oddsmakers respect him...and I'd pick him to beat Usyk....

But everything is relative....Compared to a Bowe or Holy he is second rate but that's heavy boxing these days..

Gennadiy Golovkin vacated his WBA middleweight title(he also vacated IBF version in February). Seems like he’s done.
Erislandy Lara is full WBA champion now.

Apparently if the deadline for agreeing the unification fight is not met - 10.00 pm today GMT - then Usyk's team are then obliged to enter into negotiations with Daniel Dubois (i.e. Frank Warren again) who is the WBA mandatory. Who knows what demands the WBC will place on Tyson Fury.

Wilder is WBC #1 contender

Fury on social media has said he will only fight Usyk if Usyk agrees a 70:30 split in favour of Fury (win or lose) and that he will deduct 1% from this 30% offer to Usyk for each day past the deadline Usyk fails to agree the fight.  

As a neutral I had supported Fury but no more.  I am entirely uninterested in what Fury does next.

Usyk accepted 30/70 split

Jeff Navarro wrote:Usyk accepted 30/70 split

In that case I shall be supporting Usyk all the way.  ps Hopefully a sponsor will come in and make the difference.  

Given that Usyk's home is a site of war and all the difficulty and turmoil that that involves - this is a very very bad look on Fury.

ps: I am hearing that Usyk will agree the 30/70 split if Tyson Fury donates £1 million to Ukraine and 1% of Fury's purse for every day he delays acceptance of that counteroffer.

Rumours coming out the fight is on????

I can understand why Fury was holding out for the bigger sum, he's the much bigger draw. Still a huge pay day for Usyk and the fight we all want.

I'll be wanting Fury to win on the night but won't be totally disappointed if Usyk wins....he's been coming across a lot better than Fury these last few months.

All indications are is that Tyson Fury's team have accepted the Usyk counteroffer.   Doesn't seem to have been entirely confirmed but a refusal to give a million pounds as humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people would entirely destroy Tyson Fury's reputation inside and outside of boxing and all the sponsors would run away from him.

Yesterdays shenanigans proves that Tyson Fury was always centre stage in the hold up to these negotiations - whatever power we think Bob Arum and Frank Warren have - it is entirely upon Tyson Fury and the boxers as to whether a particular fight is made.

Personally I now fully support Usyk over Tyson Fury.   I am sure Usyk can withstand Fury's punch power - Usyk survived 24 rounds with AJ and 12 rounds with Chisora without getting knocked down.   My only concern for Usyk is that Fury will try to exhaust him by clinching and smothering and leaning on him and fighting rough (e.g. pushing his opponents head down with one hand and upper cutting him with the other). Apart from that Fury has a 7 inch arm reach advantage over Usyk.

Tim Tszyu stopped Tony Harrison in the 9th round of their WBO interim 154 belt bout.
Tszyu too big and too strong from the former WBC champion.

Anyone else watch Yoka against Takam last night?

A joke that one of the judges scored it for Yoka (guess that's the privilege which comes with being the A-side and an Olympic gold medal winner, albeit that was dodgy as well) as he ships a second successive loss. Looks like we might have another Audley on our hands.

Yoka's fairly young by Heavyweight standards of today, but watching him so far he's got it all to do just to reach fringe world level, never mind the big time. Just way too wedded to his amateur style and barely threw a shot in anger in the last couple of rounds, despite Hunter in his corner telling him he needed them both and that he had to start backing Takam up (which he failed to do all night). He can't mix it at close quarters and wasn't willing to put combinations together. Also went right into his shell and on the back foot whenever he took a decent shot. Serial stinker the way things are shaping up.

Fair play to Takam though, he closed the distance well all night and Yoka couldn't deal with his pressure and consistency. Nailed Yoka with that looping right hand regularly and put together some good combinations when he got in close. He's an old man but you never know, he might get another half-decent pay day and opportunity off the back of this win.

IIRC Yoka was previously suspended for PEDs? And since the ban, he's looked mediocre in every fight?

Jeff Navarro wrote:Saul Alvarez will fight in Mexico on May 6. Opponent to be confirmed.

Alvarez vs John Ryder confirmed. Undisputed 168lbs championship.

Manny Pacquiao supposedly returning and will most likely fight Conor Benn...wut?

WBC has called Beterbiev’s mandatory defence against Callum Smith.

Joshua Buatsi left Eddie Hearn/Matchroom/DAZN and joined Boxxer. Buatsi rejected a title shot against WBA champion Bivol.

The Ramirez-Rosado fight is off after Ramirez didn't even bother trying to make weight. Came in at 187 lb, a full twelve pounds over the limit. Was given a second crack and some time to shed some timber, but still returned to the scales at 183.

Absolute joke, and I'm all for Rosado walking away. Ramirez would have known well in advance that he was never going to be anywhere near 175, and probably thought Rosado wouldn't have the gumption to walk away and would have to just shrug his shoulders and accept the disadvantage. God only knows what Ramirez would have weighed by the time the bell rang tonight.

I've said before that Ramirez isn't without talent, but the guy's bigger than some Cruiserweights and has been taking advantage of the system to beat up on Super-Middles for much of his career. Even against Bivol the size difference was very noticeable. It's one of the reasons I want Plant to do a number on Benavidez next weekend too, because Benavidez has been weight bullying for years as well.

Joseph Diaz's fight now tops the bill, and even he narrowly failed to make weight at the first attempt! Got it right at the second, though. An already embarrassing night for DAZN would have become outright laughable if he'd not managed that.

Why on earth was he fighting Rosado in the first place, what's there to gain from beating a smaller, older guy who was never any good?

Jarrell Miller, weighing 333lbs, KOd Lucas Browne in the 6th round of their fight yesterday. Miller’s most noteworthy win in nearly 5 years.
I don’t understand how someone like Browne still gets licensed he’s nothing but a glorified punchbag.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Joshua Buatsi left Eddie Hearn/Matchroom/DAZN and joined Boxxer. Buatsi rejected a title shot against WBA champion Bivol.

I like Buatsi but this feels blatant ducking to me; he conveniently avoids Smith and Bivol.

Jeff Navarro wrote:
I don’t understand how someone like Browne still gets licensed he’s nothing but a glorified punchbag.

Seeing as he wasn't even the top man in his own sanctioning body at the time, his claim is tenuous, I guess - but he might well be the worst Heavyweight in history to have any kind of 'world champion' status attached to him. I think I'd even take Charles Martin over him.

88Chris05 wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:
I don’t understand how someone like Browne still gets licensed he’s nothing but a glorified punchbag.

Seeing as he wasn't even the top man in his own sanctioning body at the time, his claim is tenuous, I guess - but he might well be the worst Heavyweight in history to have any kind of 'world champion' status attached to him. I think I'd even take Charles Martin over him.

There's also some contention over whether Browne was ever actually the regular champion; failed a post fight drugs test, was stripped of the title, title was awarded back to Chagaev but official result wasn't overturned to a no contest.

Soul Requiem wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Joshua Buatsi left Eddie Hearn/Matchroom/DAZN and joined Boxxer. Buatsi rejected a title shot against WBA champion Bivol.

I like Buatsi but this feels blatant ducking to me; he conveniently avoids Smith and Bivol.

Buatsi claims Hearn put too many stipulations into the contract to face Bivol…
Again Buatsi claimed he’d earn more if he was mandatory and not a voluntary defence…

Jeff Navarro wrote:Naoya Inoue is moving up to junior featherweight and will face unified WBC/WBO champion Stephen Fulton.
May 7, in Japan.

This fight has been postponed, Inoue is injured.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger says Fury vs Usyk is off.

Usyk's manager on TalkSport (paraphrased): "Usyk very clearly said I'll accept 70:30 but you have to accept making One Million Pound donation to the people of Ukraine.  So that was Usyk's demand in accepting 30%.  However Tyson Fury only wanted to hear the first part and didn't want to hear the second part and that is the reason why Usyk has said he will not continue with this."

Separate to that Usyk's manager said the rematch clause was not an issue until Tyson Fury made it an issue on Instagram.   However the reason why Usyk is pulling out now is because Tyson Fury showed no interest in making a one million pound donation to the Ukrainian people.

And people wonder why the YouTubers have been able to get a foothold in boxing....

To be honest I suspect the stuff about a donation to the Ukrainian people is for the birds, and more a PR exercise (the perils of the social media age). I can't believe for a second that Usyk or his team really saw that particular issue being the final straw.

My take on his whole clown show (probably the most cringeworthy around a major fight since Mayweather-Pacquiao): Fury is out of shape, has been living the high life and probably even back on the hoover in recent times, and knew full well he wouldn't be in good enough condition to face Usyk (or any genuine top Heavyweight) on April 29th. So his plan (I can only hope) was to fight Usyk later this year, maybe between July and September, and in the meantime save face by making an offer he knew would likely be rejected by Usyk, so he could play the "I tried to make the fight but they didn't want it!" card, and fight a relative ham and egger instead on April 29th to try and maintain some credibility and show he's still got it.

Usyk called his bluff by accepting the 70:30 (I mean seriously, I didn't hear any fan or commenter suggesting that split was feasible beforehand - it was all either 50:50 or 60:40) so Fury then started arsing about over the rematch clause. All his posing with Sugar Hill and lame "I'm in training, let's go, Cruiserweights are getting smashed!" garbage on his socials are designed to get gullible fans who think that fights are negotiated via Instagram videos thinking along the lines of "Well he must have wanted the fight, why else would he be training and getting sparring partners in?" etc.

I think it's a guarantee that, if Usyk gets bored of all this guff and eventually signs to fight a mandatory instead, the day it's signed Fury will emerge with another 'call out' video saying that if Usyk has any balls he'll knock his mandatory on the head and come and fight the Gypsy King, but only if he agrees to x, y and z condition.

It would be more dignified and honest if Fury just said from the off that April 29th was never happening, but his ego won't allow that and he knows that he has plenty of luvvies who take his social media histrionics seriously and hang on every word he says. Still wouldn't wash as an excuse for delaying (if not outright ducking) the fight, because his whole defence for giving Joshua that 'deadline' for a December 2022 fight was that he had to fight in December because he was definitely fighting Usyk in the Spring, come what may. So him being out of shape and not physically ready is no excuse. But at least we'd be spared this embarrassing spectacle.

As mentioned above, my only shred of hope is that Fury intends to fight Usyk later this year and was just trying to save face here. Still can't defend him at all though, because there was no good reason this couldn't have happened in April and he fought that ridiculous voluntary against Chisora supposedly on the premise that it would. He can have no complaints with any fan who thinks he's avoiding Usyk and not too keen on facing him, and even if that's not the case - it looks to me like he's squarely to blame for it not happening next month.

This is the fifth time Tyson Fury has "arsed" around.

1) Klitschko rematch.   Went as far as a press conference when Fury said a fat man with a big belly could defeat Klitschko.   Klitschko said he thought the rematch would never happen.  He was right.   There were rumours that Fury had failed a drugs test which was giving rise to problems.   Then Fury relinquished his titles and went into the wilderness.

2) After Fury vs Wilder II fight Wilder claimed he had given notice that he would be taking up the rematch clause.  Fury's team said the rematch clause had expired.   Wilder had to take it to arbitration / court to get Fury to honour the rematch or vacate the belt.

3) While Wilder's team was fighting to get the rematch we had Eddie Hearn working extremely hard to organize the AJ vs Fury fight, with Fury sitting on the sidelines criticizing Hearn every step of the way and calling AJ a dosser or words to that effect.   When Hearn finally agreed a lucrative deal with the Saudis and got everybody on board - Wilder's team won the arbitration case and Fury pulled out of the Hearn brokered deal.

4) Fury calls out AJ a month or so after beating Dillian Whyte then starts setting deadlines and then calls it off to fight Chisora.

5) This Fury vs Usyk saga.

Fury comes out of this looking very bad indeed. Strange because I didn't think he'd have any problem beating Usyk and I give Joshua a better chance of beating Fury. Styles makes fight and all that.

It has now been established that Tyson Fury was never in a "training camp" for the Usyk fight.  The media were led to believe that SugarHill Steward was in the UK to train Tyson Fury and that Fury had been in camp for three or so weeks.   However Steward said he was not here training Fury but here with his fighter Lawrence Okolie who has a fight in England today.  

For some reason Tyson Fury was never motivated to train or prepare for the Usyk fight.  Maybe he expected to turn up unprepared and beat Usyk assuming Usyk said yes to everything including Fury not donating anything to the Ukrainian people.  While Frank Warren made it all about a disagreement with the rematch clause according to Usyk's promoter it was all about Fury not wanting to donate anything to the Ukrainian people that was the final straw for Usyk.   Apparently Fury said he would donate $3 million to some firefighting fund in America in the run-up to the Wilder vs Fury II fight but he never did.   Now there is some talk that Fury wants to retire again and maybe have some exhibition fights.

If I were Usyk or his team it'd be the rematch split issue which proved the final straw. And again, despite their protestations, I have a hard time believing a possible donation to Ukraine bothered them more than that. I could be wrong, of course!

But Fury asking for 50:50 in a rematch even if he lost the first fight? Absolute joke. You'd expect the undisputed champion, fresh off the back of beating Joshua twice and then you, on your own soil and giving away something like 50 lb in weight, not to get the bigger share in a return? Usyk already grabbed his ankles accepting 70:30 in Fury's favour for the first fight.

All this talk about how Usyk took 20:80 for Joshua and then 50:50 for the return, and how he should therefore do the same with Fury, is a straw man. Usyk agreed to those terms before he had any belts at Heavyweight and before he'd proven himself. The landscape of the division, and Usyk's standing within it, has completely changed from a couple of years back when Joshua and Usyk were negotiating. The idea that Usyk should give Fury financial parity in those circumstances is a joke, and Fury knows it.

I know he's nothing but a glorified Fury groupie in any case, but Gareth A Davies' recent comments that Usyk didn't want the fight, and how him refusing to give Fury 50:50 in a return had he won the first one proves this, were frankly embarrassing. Obviously worried that Fury might call him a dosser on Twitter or cut off his privileged access to interviews with him.

This situation is entirely on Usyk. He’s not a draw and never will be. Whether he has 1 belt or 10 belts, he’ll always be the B side.
Why on earth should there be a rematch after they fight for the undisputed? It’s Usyk begging for the rematch. Bloody pathetic.
He can go fight Dubois for pennies now.

Jeff Navarro wrote:This situation is entirely on Usyk. He’s not a draw and never will be. Whether he has 1 belt or 10 belts, he’ll always be the B side ...

Such assertions are the reason why Youtuber and Celebrity boxing have become so popular and are beginning to take over the sport as nowadays it is all about the money. That plus geriatric boxing have seen many people move over to MMA and the octagon or just give up with boxing completely.

No name Bertie wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:This situation is entirely on Usyk. He’s not a draw and never will be. Whether he has 1 belt or 10 belts, he’ll always be the B side ...

Such assertions are the reason why Youtuber and Celebrity boxing have become so popular and are beginning to take over the sport as nowadays it is all about the money.   That plus geriatric boxing have seen many people move over to MMA and the octagon or just give up with boxing completely.

It’s worth bearing in mind, in the event that Fury-Usyk did a back to back fight deal - then in the rematch at least 2 belts would be gone. IBF and WBC will insist on mandatory defences. WBA also.
So what’s the point of a rematch for maybe at best 1-2 belts?
It’s just Usyk cashing out. Desperately begging for money.
Truly embarrassing behaviour

Jeff Navarro wrote:This situation is entirely on Usyk. He’s not a draw and never will be. Whether he has 1 belt or 10 belts, he’ll always be the B side.
Why on earth should there be a rematch after they fight for the undisputed? It’s Usyk begging for the rematch. Bloody pathetic.
He can go fight Dubois for pennies now.

It's pathetic that people buy into Fury's garbage, he lacks balls. That's all there is to it, he's a cowardly homophobic, racist, misogynistic scumbag.