Oleksandr Usyk would be an easier task in a bare knuckle boxing bout than Tyson Fury according to one of the top pound for pound fighters in gloveless combat today. Marko Martinjak is helming the Bridgerweight division in BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing and previously relinquished the BKB super cruiserweight title to prioritize fighting in the heavier weight category.
When expressing why he is focused on bridgerweight and not as interested in a possible heavyweight move up, while mentioning the Ukrainian gloved boxing standout as a bit of an anomaly, Martinjak said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“Listen, I’m a small heavyweight. Let’s be honest. I’m like 220, 225 pounds. So why should I go to fight with the guys who are like 6, 6’5, 6’6 feet and they have 250 lbs, 260 lbs. So that is; okay, we have [Oleksandr] Usyk who did that in professional boxing. But right now, I don’t see myself as a heavyweight. I want to conquer bridgerweight and we will see what future bring us.”
Oleksandr Usyk not as fearsome in a bare knuckle context as tyson fury, per martinjak
There was a recent interview clip going around where Martinjak was saying that he would like to fight Oleksandr Usyk in bare knuckle and touted the fact that he would get the victory over the Ukranian legend. But also curiously enough, in another clip, the Croatian BKB champ didn’t seem so keen on fighting Tyson Fury in the BKB Mighty Trigon and didn’t seem as confident beating ‘The Gypsy King’ in bare knuckle boxing.
When asked if that assessment was rooted in the size discrepancy piece between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, despite the latter besting the former twice under Queensberry Rules, Martinjak stated [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],
“Yes, [Oleksandr] Usyk is maybe couple of centimeters taller than me but he’s on the same weight like me. [Tyson] Fury is 6’9 and 270, 280 pounds. So if I want to hit him in the face, I would like have to jump, so. But you can’t jump in bare knuckle, not MMA, or for boxing. So definitely Tyson Fury would beat me because of that size. But if we are the same size, I would beat him in the bare knuckle. This is my game. I tell you before, I was born to to do this. Because every combat sport I did in the past, lead me to be the bare knuckle fighter that I am today.”