General Director of the promotion company K2 Promotions Ukraine Oleksandr Krasyuk gave
interview YouTube channel XSPORT.
In a conversation with a journalist, Alexander spoke about organizing a rematch between the unified heavyweight champion (over 90.7 kg) Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) and ex-champion from Britain Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs). The functionary also commented on the scandalous statements of Usyk, the position of the champion in the ranking of the best boxers, regardless of the weight category, and spoke about the invitation to the camp of Alexander Martin Bakole (18-1, 13 KOs) from DR Congo.
– Negotiations for a rematch with Joshua took place even before the war. What agreements were there and did the war affect their changes? Did you need to change something and negotiate?
– The outbreak of the war really had a serious impact, because we had such an understanding that the fight was to take place in May. Then the date was slightly moved to the beginning of June. And when the invasion began, it was generally unknown whether this duel would take place at all. And already in mid-March, when we realized that there was such an opportunity and we needed to use it, we already, let’s say, stepped on the gas and did everything possible to make it happen as quickly as possible. So now our target date is July 23, Middle East. And we are literally now, from day to day, waiting for the official consolidation of these agreements in the contract.
– What are the main problems that are not being coordinated now?
“In fact, there is no such reason that can be voiced. There is a set of conditions. Since this is a global event, many participants are involved in this contract. There are many small but very important things that need to be included in the contract. It is necessary that they be learned to the end, and every word, every formulation matters. Therefore, we seem to be in a hurry, but we strive to treat this without negligence, so that when the contract is signed, we are already engaged not in organizational work, but in work that is directly aimed at sports results.
— Eddie Hearn issued a statement that if the details could not be agreed this week, then the date might have to be changed. What is the reason for this statement and how much attention should be paid to it?
“I think this is more of a warning than something that should become a reality. We have already done so much work today that only formalities remain. Therefore, I do not think that this will formally become such a reason to change the date. Of course, there can be many other reasons for changing the date: injury, illness, some objective circumstances in the host country. But that’s all, all these conditions seem to have been worked out. That is why the development of the contract takes such a long time.
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– Alexander Usik had questions about the Moscow Patriarchate, God’s Crimea, united peoples and similar such statements. Now, after the start of the war, how has everything changed and has his attitude changed in terms of friendship with Russia, friendly nations and all that?
– Look, it so happened that from the beginning of Oleksandr Usyk’s professional career, his media picture did not correspond to the true state of affairs a little. Such thoughts, which he spoke publicly, are a little taken out of context. And these passages from the context formed some general idea about Alexander. Having signed a contact with him in 2013, and to this day, I have never had a doubt about his patriotic position. Because, you know, it’s one thing to talk in public, another thing is personal communication. You see what actions a person does in real life. I just know this whole list, how much has been done by him since 2013 for his homeland. This is not just about raising the flag, but about real work, real money. How much has been done and how much is being done now. He’s just the kind of person who doesn’t like to talk about it out loud and doesn’t like anyone to know about it. But believe me, the people who received this help, they know what I’m talking about.
And to talk about the fact that something has changed, questions of faith… you know, these are questions that cannot be spoken about in the third person. It’s better to talk directly to the person, because it’s a thankless job. As for friendship, we all have many friends, some have relatives, some even have close relatives on the other side, where the conditions are such that few people understand the objectivity of what is happening. And so a lot of things have changed since the beginning of the war. And also this, I think, this concerns Alexander. Not his personal views, but reality, that is, what is happening, and communication, and support, and so on. You see the activity of his wife. It expresses the position, the objective position that exists in the family. The fact that Alexander does not talk about this does not mean that he somehow thinks differently. Just a flaw in the media plan made an erroneous opinion about the worldview of Oleksandr Usyk. But I can definitely tell you that for the entire period of our cooperation, and this has been almost 9 years, there has not been a single hint of something like that.
– Does Oleksandr Usyk have any competitor to be considered the best P4P boxer now?
— Look, 3 months ago Alexander was not the leader of P4P, but he was a competitor. He was on that list, he was a competitor and could become the best, just like all the people who are in this rating can become the first in one moment. Boxing is not a static but a very dynamic category. Today you won, tomorrow you lost, the day after tomorrow you simply could not fight due to injury or other objective circumstances. The pound-for-pound rating of The Ring magazine is a rather subjective assessment. Today you can say: “Usyk is number one”, and, for example, Canelo’s team will say: “Why is Canelo not number one? He lost to Bivol, but he lost in the wrong weight class.” Now he can organize a duel with Golovkin, beat him and again he can return to the first place. Pound-for-pound is a purely subjective assessment of reality, but we do not evaluate it. We just do our job, and people who are used to giving grades continue to do so. I can say that Oleksandr Usyk is the first heavyweight since Mike Tyson to top the P4P rating. But to be honest, there is a negative side to this coin, because everything that concerns, for example, sparring partners, quite seriously affects the financial component of the agreements. [улыбается].
There are still 2 months before the fight. It’s too early to talk about sparring partners, but can you name the names of the fighters you want to invite. Perhaps there are already agreements?
I will definitely not name these people. I don’t know all of them, but I do know some. The information that has now appeared about Bakole, it corresponds to the realities. But he was invited as one of the sparring partners. If he has time, if he has the opportunity to devote 3-4 weeks… Because last time Bakole was almost the best sparring partner when Alexander was preparing for Joshua. We are all people, as it were, from boxing and watched. The first time I came to sparring, I watched this man. And he was impressed, to be honest. I ask Seryoga Lapin: “Who is this?” Says: “Bakole”. I looked who Bakole is. I have not heard about him before, but now we see that the person is not just anyone. He is an Olympic champion, he did not even notice the rising star Tony Yoku. As if he was going to work, he went to some kiosk, bought a newspaper and went on. But if he doesn’t succeed, it doesn’t mean anything. There are other 8-10 people who will work for the result in Oleksandr Usyk’s camp.