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Despite Filip Hrgovic's mandatory status, Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk might still happen.
After 'The Cat' defeated Anthony Joshua for the second time in August, there was quick talk of him meeting 'The Gypsy King'. If the pair fought, they would crown the first undisputed and unified heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Sadly, the fight will have to wait. Usyk declined the matchup, as it was a quick turnaround from his last bout in August, and Fury wanted to clash in December. Along with that, the Ukrainian was reportedly dealing with multiple nagging injuries.
Following those failed talks, the Brit targeted a collision with 'AJ'. That fight also fell apart and Fury will instead face Derek Chisora next month. Meanwhile, Usyk was ordered to face his mandatory IBF challenger, Filip Hrgovic.
With that order, fans watched their hopes of seeing Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury fight go down the drain. Well, so they thought. Earlier on Saturday, Michael Benson of TalkSport noted that Eddie Hearn recently revealed hopes that the heavyweight title clash could still happen soon.
It's unknown if Hrgovic will step aside or what the terms of the deal are, but the head of Matchroom seems optimistic.
See the tweet below:
Tyson Fury discusses facing Oleksandr Usyk
Quite frankly, Tyson Fury doesn't care about facing Oleksandr Usyk anyway.
'The Gypsy King' has been out of the ring since his knockout win over Dillian Whyte in April. Following that victory, Fury retired, but instantly unretired, teasing a possible clash with Francis Ngannou on the night of his announcement.
Ultimately, the WBC Heavyweight Champion decided that a fight with 'The Predator' could wait and targeted the winner of Usyk's rematch with Joshua. 'The Cat' won by decision, defeating 'AJ' for the second time.
However, Usyk was forced to turn down the clash in December due to injury. The fight with Joshua later didn't come to fruition for unknown reasons, but Fury later blamed his U.K. rival.
In an interview with BT Sport, Tyson Fury discussed clashing with Oleksandr Usyk. The WBC Heavyweight Champion admitted that at this point, he doesn't care about the bout, stating:
"I have zero interest in the little ***. I've got no interest. Zero charisma, zero personality. He beat the bodybuilder. The bodybuilder gave him some credibility... There isn't a middleweight born from his mother who could even give me a challenge."
