A fight to decide the undisputed world heavyweight champion moved closer as Oleksandr Usyk called out Tyson Fury, who hinted he could reverse his decision to retire.
Usyk defended his WBA (Super), WBO and IBF belts in a points win against Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.
WBC champion Fury has not fought since beating Dillian Whyte in April.
Usyk, who retained his WBA, WBO and IBF titles with a split decision win, said: “I am convinced he wants to fight me.”
The unbeaten Ukrainian added: “I want to fight him. And if I’m not fighting Tyson Fury, I’m not fighting at all.”
Earlier this month, Britain’s Fury said he would stay retired. But the 34-year-old criticised Saturday’s fight on social media saying: “I would annihilate both of them on the same night. get your cheque book out because the Gypsy King is here to stay forever.”
When asked about Fury’s comments, Usyk replied: “That’s what he’s dreaming every day. I’m going to beat him.”
Usyk has recently been defending his nation against the Russian invasion and the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky praised his “difficult, but so important and necessary victory”.
“Defending the title of world champion is a symbol that all those who are of Cossack sort will not give up their own, they will fight for it and will definitely win,” Zelensky tweeted.
The fight was watched in Ukraine on free-to-air television after Saudi Arabia gifted Usyk the broadcast rights to show it in his country.
And the former cruiserweight world champion dedicated his victory to “my country, to my family, to my team, to all the military people who are defending the country”.
He added: “Many generations are going to watch this fight, especially the round where someone tried to beat me hard, but I withstood it and turned in a different way.”
