Six Words And A Laugh
Right then. Three days ago Oleksandr Usyk's manager was politely explaining that his fighter is nobody's back-up plan. Now the man himself has posted a short clip aimed squarely at Tyson Fury, grinning his way through the line that will be on every boxing account by lunchtime.
"Hey, Tyson, I'm coming for you my brother, I'm coming for you. Ha ha ha." The caption underneath asked whether Fury is still thinking about him.
Make no mistake, that is not a man ruling anything out. That is a man who knows exactly how much a six-second video is worth when the other side needs the fight more than he does.
Fury Replied Before The Kettle Boiled
The response from Morecambe came almost instantly, and it was vintage Fury — half tribute, half wind-up. He called Usyk a real man and a proper fighting man, kept the old rabbit jibe going, and then got to the point: the pair have fought twice, let's do the trilogy, and he wants it all back.
He also took a swing at people making a million demands and delivering nothing, which is about as subtle as a house brick given where the rest of his year has gone.
The Context Everyone Knows And Nobody Says
Because this is not really about Usyk. Not yet.
Anthony Joshua against Fury has been pencilled in for November and has spent weeks stuck on one question: where. Joshua's side want the UK. The money and the streaming partner want Madison Square Garden. The press conference that was supposed to happen has not been scheduled, and Fury has now declared the fight off more times in three weeks than most fights get announced.
Let's not beat around the bush — calling out the man who beat you twice, while your negotiation with somebody else is bogged down, is leverage. It always has been. Fury is telling the Joshua camp that he has somewhere else to go, and telling the broadcasters that there is a second product on the shelf.
Does That Make It Fake?
No, and this is where I differ from the cynics. Fury genuinely wants Usyk again. He has never accepted either result, particularly the first, where the ninth-round knockdown swung a fight he believes he was winning. Two defeats to the same man is the only mark on a career he otherwise describes in superlatives, and he is 38 with a short runway.
He wants it. He also wants it to be useful right now. Both things are true.
What Usyk Actually Gains
Very little, and that is the point. He is 39, he is 25-0, he has beaten Fury twice and has nothing left to prove against him. A third fight is a payday and a victory lap, not a career necessity.
Which is precisely why he can post a laughing video and walk away. Usyk has spent this entire saga being the only man in it with no pressing need, and he has played that hand beautifully — a shrug from the camp on Tuesday, a taunt from the fighter on Thursday, and Fury responding to both.
Luke's Verdict
Here is where I land, and I will be straight with you: I do not think Joshua-Fury happens this year.
The venue row is not a detail, it is a fundamental disagreement about who the fight is for, and both camps have now spent too long in public for either to fold quietly. Somebody has to lose face and neither will.
My call: Usyk-Fury III gets announced before Joshua-Fury does, and it lands in the first half of 2027 at a neutral venue with Saudi money behind it. And when it does, I am afraid the ending is the same as the last two. Usyk on points, comfortably enough, because at 38 going on 39 Fury does not suddenly acquire the footwork to solve a problem he could not solve at 35.
Brilliant theatre, though. It always is with these two. More heavyweight coverage is on our news page.