Usyk Weighs In on Fury's Wach Win as Joshua Clash Nears

Oleksandr Usyk has weighed in on Tyson Fury's latest tune-up, and true to form, he didn't play it straight. Speaking to Boxing King Media, the 25-0 lineal champion offered a wry take on Fury's seventh-round retirement win over Mariusz Wach in Thailand on Friday — a man Usyk knows well as one of his own former sparring partners.

Usyk, who holds a 2-0 edge over Fury from their 2024 pair of fights, joked that the 'greedy belly' Wach did well and thanked Fury for helping his old training partner earn a payday. It's a light jab, but the timing is loaded: Usyk is now training alongside Anthony Joshua, the man Fury is set to face in November.

How We Got Here

Usyk beat Fury by split decision in May 2024 to become undisputed, then repeated the result via unanimous decision seven months later. That second loss pushed 'The Gypsy King' — now 36-2-1 (25 KO) and ranked #3 — into a brief retirement before he returned in April with a points win over Arslanbek Makhmudov.

The Wach outing was another low-risk keep-busy fight rather than a real test. Fury got the job done without much drama, closing the show in round seven. It keeps him ticking over for the fight everyone actually wants to see.

The AJ Complication

Joshua, 29-4 (26 KO), had his own scare on Saturday against Kristian Prenga. He hit the canvas twice in the opening round before recovering to stop Prenga in the second — not the smooth warm-up his team would have scripted, but a win is a win.

The subplot here is Usyk in Joshua's camp. The one heavyweight who has Fury's number twice over is now feeding intel and sparring time to the Brit trying to solve him. Fury and Joshua are finally expected to share a ring in November, and Usyk's fingerprints will be all over the game plan on the other side.