Usyk Rejects Fury's Backup Plan Amid Joshua Fight Delays

Tyson Fury went looking for a lifeline. Oleksandr Usyk’s team slammed it shut.

With negotiations for a long-promised all-British blockbuster against Anthony Joshua stuck on the venue, Fury turned to social media on Monday and tried to change the script. If Joshua wouldn’t play ball, he said, he wanted the man who beat him twice this year.

A third fight with Usyk. An undisputed champion he couldn’t solve in 24 rounds.

The answer from the Ukrainian’s side was blunt.

“Usyk is not Tyson's backup plan”

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Usyk’s manager Sergey Lapin made it clear Fury’s call-out was going nowhere under the current circumstances.

"Usyk is not Tyson's backup plan,” Lapin said, drawing a firm line between public posturing and real business. “If Fury needs an opponent, he should visit the Ready to Fight platform. They can help him find a worthy opponent there.

“Oleksandr is always open to big challenges. But serious intentions are backed by a concrete offer, not statements in the press."

No teasing. No hint of negotiation. Just a reminder that the undisputed champion operates on contracts, not Instagram videos.

Usyk, 39, vacated the three heavyweight belts he still held in June, stepping away from the politics of mandatory defences but not from the sport itself. Retirement is on hold. His name has instead been floated alongside Deontay Wilder’s in recent weeks, a different kind of danger, a different kind of spectacle.

The Ukrainian’s record remains spotless: 25 fights, 25 wins. He dethroned Joshua in 2021, beat him again in 2022, and then, in a twist few would have predicted at the time, joined Joshua’s training setup over the last year. From conqueror to corner ally.

Fury-Joshua: signed, but still stuck

On paper, Fury already has a dance partner. Both he and Joshua have signed individual contracts for a fight pencilled in for November. The signatures are there; the stage is not.

The venue has become the latest stumbling block in a rivalry that has been simmering for more than a decade.

Speculation has swirled around New York City as a possible host, a transatlantic staging for a very British grudge. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, though, has been clear: he and Joshua want the fight in London. Fury, never shy of a jab outside the ring, has accused his countryman of using the location row as cover to dodge him.

So while the paperwork gathers dust, the WBC champion has turned his frustration outward, and back toward the man who took everything from him on the scorecards.

Fury’s plea: “Let’s run it back in November”

In a video posted on Instagram, Fury addressed both Joshua and Usyk, but his real target was the Ukrainian.

"This will only lead me to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk," Fury said, framing the stalled Joshua bout as a dead end that naturally loops back to the former undisputed king.

"Oleksandr you're his [Joshua's] trainer and his sensei and you know he is weak minded... and that he would never fight the Gypsy King which you have had the guts to do twice.

"You got the decisions last time, fair play to you. Good luck to you, let's do it again. Let's run it back in November. The ball is now in your court... do you want to fight me this year, 2026, or are you calling it quits?

"Let me know because I am now looking for a new opponent."

The pitch was emotional, almost pleading in tone by Fury’s standards. A nod of respect to the man who outboxed him twice, wrapped inside a challenge to do it all over again.

Different priorities, same spotlight

Usyk’s side, though, have little interest in being dragged into Fury’s scheduling crisis. Lapin’s message underscored that Usyk is not there to rescue a collapsing promotion or to fill a gap left by a failed Fury-Joshua deal. He is chasing legacy on his own terms.

The Ready to Fight reference was pointed. If Fury truly needs a name, Lapin suggested, he can find one from a marketplace of contenders. Usyk is not an emergency option.

So Fury waits. For Joshua to agree a city. For a contract to turn from theory into reality. Or for another heavyweight to step into the chaos and take the risk.

Usyk, undefeated and unbowed at 39, has choices. Fury, for once, is the one asking the question.