Tyson Fury Seeks New Opponent as Usyk Closes Door

Tyson Fury has gone looking for a lifeline. Oleksandr Usyk has just shut the door.

With the long-promised all-British blockbuster against Anthony Joshua still stuck in negotiations, Fury took to social media on Monday and declared he was in the market for a new opponent. His choice was as bold as it was familiar: a third fight with the man who took everything from him in 2024.

Usyk, though, is having none of it.

“Usyk is not Tyson's backup plan”

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Usyk’s manager Sergey Lapin cut through the noise with a blunt response that left little room for interpretation.

"Usyk is not Tyson's backup plan," Lapin said, making it clear the undisputed champion of 2024 will not be summoned on a whim just because Fury’s November plans are unravelling.

"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."

That last line stung. Fury’s Instagram call-out was pure theatre; Team Usyk are demanding paperwork, not performance.

Fury turns up the volume as Joshua talks stall

The backdrop is messy. Both Fury and Joshua have already signed individual contracts for what was pencilled in as a November showdown, a fight more than a decade in the making. The problem is the stage.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been pushing for London. Fury, never shy of a verbal jab, has accused Joshua of dragging his feet and trying to swerve the clash. Speculation has swirled around a potential move to New York City, but no venue has been nailed down.

Into that vacuum, Fury has done what Fury always does: grabbed a camera and a storyline.

"This will only lead me to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk," he said in a video posted on Instagram, turning his frustrations with Joshua into a public invitation to the Ukrainian.

Addressing Usyk directly, Fury leaned into the new dynamic between his old rival and his old domestic foe.

"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."

It was part compliment, part challenge, part provocation. Classic Fury. But without a formal offer, that is all it is.

Usyk’s next move: Wilder on the horizon?

Usyk’s position is more complicated than a simple yes or no to Fury.

In June, the 39-year-old announced he was vacating the three heavyweight belts he still held, ending his reign as the man who cleaned out the division, but stopping short of retirement. He insisted he was not done, and talk has since grown around a possible clash with Deontay Wilder.

At 25-0 as a professional, with back-to-back wins over Joshua in 2021 and 2022 and two points victories over Fury in 2024, Usyk’s ledger is immaculate. He has beaten the giants, then joined one of them.

Over the last year, he has become part of Joshua’s training team, an extraordinary twist in the heavyweight narrative. The man who outboxed Joshua twice now helps shape him. That relationship adds another layer to Fury’s taunts and to any prospect of a trilogy.

Usyk still wants big nights. Lapin made that clear. But he also made clear that those nights will be dictated by contracts and strategy, not by Fury’s frustration with stalled talks elsewhere.

So Fury waits. Joshua waits. Usyk, as ever, holds his own line.

If the Gypsy King really wants that third chapter, the next move will have to come not on Instagram, but at the negotiating table.