Usyk already in talks with Fury alternative as fight falls into doubt

Frank Smith has confirmed that he is in talks with Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk regarding a fight with Filip Hrgovic. This comes at a time in which Usyk’s proposed undisputed fight with Tyson Fury is in serious jeopardy.

According to Krassyuk, negotiations are stalling over the financial side of the deal. With the historic event having to head to England rather than Saudi Arabia, the prize pot has been significantly reduced, proving to be a problem for Fury.

Krassyuk says that The Gypsy King is demanding a wage so high that not even a 100% split of the purse would cover it and claims the fight is ‘unlikely’ to happen next. As a result, attention has begun to switch to possible alternatives with Hrgovic among those in the running.

The Croatian puncher is the IBF mandatory for Usyk and is second in line in the sanctioning body rotational system behind WBA (regular) champion Daniel Dubois. But with Dubois still recovering from a torn ACL suffered in his last outing against Kevin Lerena, Smith claims Hrgovic vs Usyk may be ordered first.

“Yeah, I met with Alex this week while he was in London. Look, Usyk isn’t hiding away from anyone, we all know that he’s a brilliant fighter and he wants to take on everyone. As you mention, Dubois is injured which means the IBF would probably be next,” he told iD Boxing.

“So, yeah. It’s definitely a fight we’re interested in making, Hrgovic wants it. It just depends on the logistics of getting it all together. So, I’m speaking to Alex about it regularly as well as Kalle and Wasserman who we work with on Filip and maybe that is a fight we can see next because I think it’s very unlikely Fury vs Usyk is next.”

When asked about a timeline for Hrgovic vs Usyk, Smith added: “Usyk has been training for quite some time as has Hrgovic as well. There has been a lot of talks about the Andy Ruiz fight, we made a good offer for him, and he withdrew from the WBC final eliminator.

“Hrgovic wants to get out ASAP, possibly something for May or June. But it’s a rush is the reality, especially while you’ve got the Usyk-Fury talks. There’s obviously a busy schedule of shows as well so it has to fit in at the right place.”

However, Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren recently revealed to Express Sport that Triple D would be able to face Usyk on a similar date. Warren confirmed that Dubois is back in training and looking likely to return around mid to late May at the earliest.