Tyson Fury’s ‘True Feelings’ About Oleksandr Usyk

Tyson Fury has finally expressed his true feelings about Oleksandr Usyk, his opponent for the upcoming heavyweight boxing title fight, and he’s revealed his respect for his Ukrainian rival’s abilities and mentality, as well as his respect for him as a human being.

The current WBC heavyweight champion was sitting down for an interview with Dev Sahni of Queensberry Promotions, with the historical bout at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, drawing ever closer to its destined date of the 18th of May. Sahni had first been asking about Fury’s training and career when he finally brought up the headline-grabbing topic of the Ukrainian Olympic champion to Fury.

When asked if he was expecting a tricky encounter in the ring, Fury said he didn’t think that his opponent could trick him before going on to be more complimentary while keeping his confidence.

Tyson Fury on Oleksandr Usyk

Fury has finally given Usyk his flowers, just days ahead of their fight

“Usyk is a bad man, a real bad man, and any underestimation of Oleksandr Usyk, you’d be a mug. I respect Usyk as a man, because he’s a family man, which I am myself, so I respect that more than any boxing achievement.

Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk

The 18th of May will be one of the biggest fights in boxing history

With each fighter putting their belts on the line, whoever comes out victorious will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since the legendary Lennox Lewis pulled off the feat (WBA, WBC, and IBF) in 1999. No fighter has ever become undisputed with four belts in the heavyweight class, an exclusive club that only nine male boxers (including Usyk himself, having won all four cruiserweight belts in 2018) have entered in any weight division. Fury could become the 10th member if he wins, while Usyk would become the third to do so in two weight classes (Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue being the other two) if he wins.

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At one point, Fury was in Usyk’s position of holding the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts, three of the four titles needed to be declared as the undisputed champion of a boxing weight class. He had claimed those titles after defeating Wladimir Klitschcko in 2015, before having to vacate the titles soon after due to mental health and doping investigations.

Years later, Usyk would claim those titles that once were Fury’s by defeating Anthony Joshua via unanimous decision in 2021. Meanwhile, Fury made a comeback after years out of the sport and claimed the WBC heavyweight belt through a TKO victory over Deontay Wilder back in 2021.

Both “The Gypsy King” and “The Cat” are not only putting their titles on the line, but also their undefeated records at the professional level. Fury has a record of 34-0-1, while Usyk has a record of 21-0. Fury’s most recent bout was a narrow split decision victory against Francis Ngannou back in October, while Usyk’s last fight was against Daniel Dubois, where he knocked out the Brit in front of the crowd in Wroclaw.