Tyson Fury did his best to unsettle Oleksandr Usyk, directing verbal abuse and clashing heads with the Ukrainian during a face-off to publicise their February 17 undisputed heavyweight clash in Saudi Arabia.
Fury, coming off a controversial victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, engaged in mind games during the media gathering in London, with Usyk unmoved by the “The Gypsy King’s” antics.
”You are all dossers. He’s going to get knocked out. And you two are going to work for me slinging my bags,” Fury told Usyk and his promoter, Alexander Krassyuk and manager, Egis Klimas.
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“Sausage, ugly little man, rabbit,” Fury continued while Usyk remained calm.
“Enough? My friend. Have you stopped? Enough? Have you stopped talking?,” he asked.
However, things got a bit testy when Fury pushed his head into Usyk’s, sparking a reaction from the Ukrainian champ, who nudged his head forward before security separated them.
The winner of the fight will unify all of the major heavyweight titles.
The last fight to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion was in 1999, when Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield to win three major titles — the WBC, WBA and IBF belts.
Lewis had to relinquish his WBA title the following year in a dispute over his next title defence.
This time, it’s for four belts. Fury (34-0-1) of England is the WBC champion and Usyk (21-0) holds the WBA, IBF and WBO belts, having previously been the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in 2018 and 2019.
Fury and Usyk were expected to meet on December 23 but the fight was delayed after Fury’s disappointing performance in a split-decision victory over Ngannou in Saudi Arabia last month.
“I am destined to cement my legacy as the No.1 fighter in this era and to do that, I’ve got to beat this little man,” said Fury, who has previously referred to Usyk as a “middleweight”.
“That’s it. Simple as. He’s a tricky man, a good boxer, slick, all of that, but I’ve seen many people like him before. When they fight the big men, they struggle and he’s going to struggle on Feb. 17. He will lose, for sure.”
Usyk is coming off a defence against Daniel Dubois in Poland. The Ukrainian has beaten British opponents in all of his last four fights, including when he won his heavyweight titles from Anthony Joshua in 2021 and defended them in a rematch in Saudi Arabia the following year.
“I have no goal,” Usyk said. “Only the way. And my way is ’The Undisputed.’ That is why this was the only fight for me. When that bell rings, I will bring the fire.”
– with AP