Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will fight for the undisputed heavyweight champion next Saturday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in one of the most anticipated fights of recent years, which promises to become an all-time heavyweight classic.

The style of both fighters means it will be a fight with a lot of adrenaline and constant action, after a delay of three months, due to a sparring incident for Fury.

The original date was February 17, but Fury suffered a cut on his eyebrow due to a blow from one of his sparring partners, which led to the postponement of the fight, which only increased the tension between the two fighters.

Fury comes into the fight with a record of 34-0-1 and 24 KOs, while the Ukrainian Usyk boasts a record of 21-0 and 14 knockouts.

The winner of the fight will make history as he would become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era, making a long-awaited bout even more appealing.

Fury is the current WBC champion, while Usyk holds the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.

Who is the betting favorite between Fury and Usyk?

A week before the fight Fury comes in as the favorite over Usyk according to several bookmakers.

At Draft Kings, Fury has a line of -120 for a +100 for Usyk, that is, it is a very close line in favor of the Briton, while the draw gives a +1,400.

For other bookmakers such as bet365, Fury has a betting line of -125 for +100 for Usyk.

In the same tenor are other sites like Bet MGM, Caesars Sportsbook and Bet Rivers, all viewing Fury as the favorite to defeat Usyk.

The odds for Usyk is +180 on a decision win, and +500 winning by knockout.

Tyson Fury is an unknown entity going into his huge clash with Oleksandr Usyk.

That is according to rising heavyweight star Moses Itauma, who has sparred the ‘Gypsy King’ in recent weeks, and has been declared as the future of the division by the WBC champion.

Itauma believes the British heavyweight goes into the undisputed title fight as the favourite to be the first man to hold all the straps in the division since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

Itauma told talkSPORT Drive: “Obviously I was in Tyson’s camp, he was very Marmite in sparring – some days he’d do good but in some he’d been unbelievable.

“It honestly depends on what version of Fury turn up. If the one sparring on good days turns up he will have a very easy night with Usyk.

“As I say he’s very Marmite, he could have a bad day in sparring and I feel like the Francis Ngannou fight was a very bad day.”

He went on to compare Fury’s circumstances when fighting Ngannou, in comparison to Anthony Joshua’s dominant KO win earlier in March.

He continued: “He [Fury] gave me loads of advice. Currently, I think he is No.1. There are so many factors people don’t take into account.

“Joshua had something to learn off [before fighting Ngannou in October 2023], Fury never did. Fury was the first person to do that crossover.

“It was great entertainment. Whether he took it seriously is another thing.”

Fury struggled in his last outing, being knocked down by the ex-UFC champion before rallying to a narrow points win.

Many suggested this decreased his chances of beating Uysk, particularly since Joshua went on to impress in his win over Ngannou.

The WBC champion looks in much better shape, having made a remarkable transformation since facing Ngannou.

His training footage has also followed a ‘marmite’ pattern with fans first suggesting he looked ‘awful’ in a fitness drill.

But the online response has since been much improved as he dazzled on the pads in new footage with his father John Fury.

On May 18, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are scheduled to fight in order to unify all the belts from the different boxing councils. One of the most powerful organisms is the WBC, which is presided by Mauricio Sulaiman. According to him, there is a new rule change he has requested as an emergency measure that would change the rules of boxing in a fundamental manner. The idea is to change from three to six judges during the fight, which makes things increasingly more difficult for both fighters. A format this different could change the outcome of a fight in drastic fashion. This decision isbeing pushed by Sulaiman, who is also talking to presidents from the WBA, the IBF, and the WBO.

Why will the judge number change for Fury vs Usyk?

As a way to get better transparency, this decision from Mauricio Sulaiman has been made. In previous fights, there have already been moments in which the score cards from only three judges have been scrutinized. More recently, the fight between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou was highly scrutinized because most people thought the MMA star won that fight. In order to prevent something similar from happening, Sulaiman is making this immediate rule change request that he wants passed before Fury fights Usyk. Initially, their fight was scheduled for February but an eyebrow injury from Fury moved it to May 18.

WCB president Mauricio Sulaiman spoke to the folks at Boxing Scene to express his concerns. This is what he said: “What we saw last week in Saudi Arabia was another example of how fragile officiating worldwide continues to be. We saw one judge have it one way big and another judge having the other guy winning. Controversy like that in the Fury-Usyk fight will kill boxing. Fights, especially those at this highest level, deserve this and so I’m putting forward this proposal now to all sanctioning bodies, promoters and fighters. It has to be something we all agree on.”

He ultimately lost the fight via unanimous decision but there were clear signs of a promising future ahead.

A win over surging contender Martin Bakole a year later saw him sore up the heavyweight rankings before ‘The Bounty Hunter’ was matched against Alexander Povetkin on the Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz rematch undercard.

Many felt Hunter did enough to get his hand raised against the Russian, but the fight was declared a draw.

If Hunter had been given the nod in Saudi Arabia then very different opportunities would have lay ahead.

Instead, a couple of wins against domestic-level opposition followed before that fateful night against Forrest.

The dismal showing against ‘The Slugger’ saw Hunter’s stock fall significantly and the subsequent collapse of a eliminator bouts with Hughie Fury and Filip Hrgovic meant the American puncher was unable to rebound from the setback.

Now, he finds himself in boxing limbo.

“I was supposed to be fighting for Sky Sports but they couldn’t really get me a fight,” Hunter told talkSPORT.com.

“I’ve had the same problem my whole career, nobody really wants to fight me and it costs to get me a fight.

“That’s why a lot of people are saying that I’m high risk, low reward.

“But the reality of it is, I’m a higher risk than my reward period. You could still get a million dollars fighting me, but would you get another one after?

“So I think it is the risk and the way I fight, the type of style that I have. I’m kind of like an Usyk type of fighter.