Oleksandr Usyk has revealed he held back against Derek Chisora to lure Anthony Joshua into a fight.
Usyk cleaned out the cruiserweight division then moved up to Heavyweight, where his first two bouts didn’t set the world alight.
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His performances against Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora raised questions over his heavyweight credentials.
Speaking to Queensbury Promotions’ Dev Sahni about his apparent difficulties when fighting Chisora, Usyk replied with,
“Let people watch my fight with Derek Chisora and think what they used to think.”
Sahni then asked whether Usyk had looked bad against Chisora on purpose so as not to scare away the heavyweight champions from fighting him, and he admitted: “Yes, this is true.”
Usyk would land the huge Anthony Joshua fight and beat him pretty convincingly in both bouts to secure heavyweight gold.
Next up for the Ukrainian is another Brit in Daniel Dubois, where the pair collide in Poland on Saturday.
