He tried to use his broken English as an excuse. Pathetic. Boxing fans and the sport are not fooled by him.
Usyk is the premier heavyweight fighter in professional boxing and for him to be taking on a kickboxing champion next month is a joke.
Both to him and the entire sport.
At the recent launch press conference he basically just said look he wanted to try one of those showcase fights and yes, it is in a premier destination in the Pyramids in Egypt but the opponent is an easy win for him.
This is atypical for current trends of matchmaking in the sport as well where the best are now fighting the best on a regular basis.
Every week, multiple times a week around the world.
Usyk is involved in this regularly usually himself as well of course having fought everyone over the years and he’s never ducked a challenge so for him to do this at this point is strange.
Very strange.
Boxing fans are expecting him to hammer Rico into oblivion and with respect to Rico, while accomplished in the kickboxing field, to just jump right in to the highest tier of professional boxing is shocking that it could happen.
During a time where the sport is booming and has returned to the masses and will much more in the days and weeks ahead.
The whole thing was baffling from Usyk and lately for some reason in the last few weeks in particular he doesn’t seem himself at all.
Very nervous in many of his interviews which is unlike him, almost as if something away from boxing is scaring him.
Who knows.
It is difficult to say but the fight is on next month and the fact it happens at such a premier destination as it is like the Pyramids in Egypt in a sense is a good thing for the marketing for boxing.
But its about the fights and it needs the standard of matchmaking to match the occasion and distinct venue as well conversely.
Usyk only has himself to blame by the backlash in Ukraine and worldwide from boxing and sports fans at the moment.
Who knows what will happen him this year.
Usyk needs to win in style to have any sort of chance of getting in boxing as a sport and boxing fans’ good books again moving forward and then put the opponent choice behind him and get in there with someone who can stop him in a heavyweight danger fight.
Here was Usyk’s full response to his shocking opponent choice by the way.
