{"id":323191,"date":"2025-12-02T17:29:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/323191\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T17:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:29:06","slug":"oleksandr-usyk-accused-of-running-away-from-boxing-fight-as-manager-speaks-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/323191\/","title":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk accused of ‘running away’ from boxing fight as manager speaks out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oleksandr Usyk has been accused of “running away” from a showdown with Fabio Wardley by the British WBO heavyweight champion’s manager Mike Ofo. <\/p>\n

The Ukrainian relinquished his WBO title rather than face Wardley, despite being ordered to defend against the winner of the Parker-Wardley bout.<\/p>\n

Ofo said: “Usyk is doing the opposite, he is running away from adversity, while we’re running towards Usyk.”<\/p>\n

The manager expressed disappointment at the former undisputed champion’s conduct.<\/p>\n

“Usyk’s comments surprised me because I thought he was a champion who had integrity,” he told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

Ofo revealed that financial terms had been agreed “in principle” before the Parker fight for Wardley to challenge Usyk.<\/p>\n

The manager added: “He had no interest in fighting Fabio Wardley.”<\/p>\n

Usyk has instead named Deontay Wilder as his preferred opponent, describing the American as “the first option” for his next bout.<\/p>\n

\"Oleksandr<\/p>\n

Oleksandr Usyk has been accused of ‘running away’ from a showdown with Fabio Wardley<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

Usyk told Boxing King Media: “If Parker won, for me, it is interesting. If Wardley wins, for me, not interesting.”<\/p>\n

“I say, ‘Okay, I give you [my] belt, maybe later we will fight together’.”<\/p>\n

Despite dismissing Wardley, Usyk spoke highly of the former WBC champion Wilder.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian said: “He is a world champion guy. A very famous and strong guy.”<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Ofo revealed that financial terms had been agreed ‘in principle’ before the Parker fight for Wardley to challenge Usyk<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

He added: “One of the great heavyweights of the last 10 years. I spoke with my team and said he is the first option.”<\/p>\n

Ofo challenged the logic behind Usyk’s preference for Wilder, whose career has deteriorated significantly in recent years.<\/p>\n

The American has suffered defeat in four of his last six contests, including stoppage losses to Zhilei Zhang and Tyson Fury, plus a points defeat to Parker.<\/p>\n

Ofo said: “You want to fight Wilder who not only lost to the man you beat [Tyson Fury] but has also lost to the man who your mandatory challenger beat [Joseph Parker].”<\/p>\n

\"Fabio<\/p>\n

Fabio Wardley boasts 19 knockouts from 20 victories<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

He added: “We’ve sold out arenas, drew a huge crowd to a football stadium, and have built a big fanbase behind Fabio.<\/p>\n

“Total nonsense. It was better if Usyk came out and said he was scared and doesn’t want to fight. Wilder is no risk and guaranteed reward.”<\/p>\n

Wardley expressed bewilderment at Usyk’s choice to surrender the belt after initially requesting an extension to negotiate.<\/p>\n

“It was a bit of a strange one, because initially he took a bit of a break. He was allowed an absence, an extension on the belt, and then to give it up just seems a bit of a strange move,” the Ipswich fighter told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

\"Deontay<\/p>\n

Oleksandr Usyk has named Deontay Wilder as his preferred opponent<\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

Ofo remains bullish about his charge’s prospects regardless of Usyk’s decision.<\/p>\n

“Fabio is not only the most exciting heavyweight out there, he is the most exciting fighter in boxing right now,” the manager declared.<\/p>\n

He confirmed that Wardley, who boasts 19 knockouts from 20 victories, will make his maiden WBO title defence in early 2025.<\/p>\n

Ofo added: “Fabio’s career is not going to be held up, this is embarrassing for boxing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Usyk has been accused of “running away” from a showdown with Fabio Wardley by the British WBO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,44,13296,588,85],"class_list":["post-323191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-news","tag-sgg","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}