While there is some time before the big titans of the heavyweight division face-off against each other, their verbal jabs have begun laying out the premise for their historic, in-ring clash. WBC champion, Tyson Fury, has dismissed his long-standing rival and upcoming opponent, Oleksandr Usyk, labeling him “useless” among other things in a recent unsavoury response.
On the 17th of February, the boxing world will get its undisputed unified heavyweight champion after almost 24 years. For the much-awaited fight, Fury will bring his prowess against the current undisputed champion, Oleksandr Usyk, at the ongoing Riyadh season. Six weeks ahead of fight night, Fury, who has reportedly already moved to the Kingdom of Saudi, informed his fans of his readiness for the bout, while brutally shading his Ukrainian opponent. His comments come in the wake of Usyk too taking some serious jabs at Fury for referring him as “rabbit” on multiple occasions.
Tyson Fury is confident of defeating Usyk
Earlier today, the ‘Gypsy King’ uploaded a video from the mountains on his Instagram feed. Captioned, “Working hard for the undisputed heavyweight championship 2024,” the video features 35-year-old Fury decked in a black hoodie, covering his head with a warm cap, surrounded by his training team. The excited, loud, and confident heavyweight explained, “Another big day of running in the f***ing mountains, come on!” Further, directly referring to Usyk, he added, “Easy work, smashing that rabbit’s face right in for him, useless piece of s***.”
Both Fury and Usyk have been chasing a fight against each other since January 2023. After his Derek Chisora win in late 2022, he sought the undisputed title fight against Usyk. However, their negotiations reached a roadblock after reports emerged that the English fighter was unhappy with the purse splits. Later, in October, he faced off against debutante boxer, and UFC fame, Francis Ngannou in an exhibiton-esque Riyadh fight, winning it via split decision. His victory, however, sparked major criticism given how he, a world champion, won by a narrow margin against Ngannou, who’s never boxed before.
36-year-old, ‘Cat’ Usyk has been quiet in the days leading to the fight. However, his silence has not been misconstrued as his lack of confidence against Fury. Rather a calm before the storm. Earlier, on December 27th, in a rare break of this silence, Usyk outlined his confidence ahead of the Fury clash.
Not “if” I win, but “when”
To Sky Sports, Cat remarked, “Firstly, it’s not ‘if’ I win but ‘when’ I win.” He further added, “When I go to sleep I imagine myself boxing, then my hand raised high. I simply believe that I can win.” Referring to the ‘rabbit’ jab that Fury has been constantly laying on him, Usyk said, “I got into his head and now instead of me, he thinks about a rabbit. Keep thinking, brother.” He then went on to add, “Tony Bellew once said that I am a beast in boxing. I said: ‘Not really, I’m just a white rabbit.’”
Both heavyweight giants are certain of their wins against each other. However, come fight night, only one of them will remain true to their calibrations.
