Warren on the Usyk–Wardley fight: «We would fill Tottenham»

The head of Queensberry Promotions, Frank Warren, explained whether they could fill a major arena for a bout between his fighter and the new WBO heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley and the three-time undisputed world champion Oleksandr Usyk.

«Before the fight he really said he would fight the winner (in fact, this was mentioned by the team’s CEO Serhii Lapin – ed.). After that he said “no”.

But if I were his manager, I would look after him. Usyk has done everything that was asked of him — and now he views fights in terms of risk and reward. In my opinion, he feels that the risk doesn’t justify the reward.

Although I believe we could sell out a football stadium for that fight. Remember, 25,000 people in Ipswich, on a rainy evening, came to see Fabio. If he boxed Usyk, we would fill Tottenham. So let’s see what happens next», Warren said.

Wardley had been the mandatory challenger for Usyk, but Oleksandr vacated the belt and the title passed to Fabio. Later Usyk said he did so because the WBO didn’t give him enough time, and because a fight with the Briton does not interest him at the moment.