Tyson Fury is bullish regarding his chances of becoming undisputed world heavyweight champion when he faces Oleksandr Usyk next month, claiming the Ukrainian will be found wanting in Riyadh and declaring: “This is my time”.
Unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Fury will face Usyk – who holds the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring belts – in Saudi Arabia on May 18.
Their eagerly anticipated unification fight was originally scheduled for February, only to be postponed when Fury suffered a cut above his eye in a freak accident during a sparring session.
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Now fully recovered, the Gypsy King is confident of posting the 35th win of his professional career next month, though he reserves respect for Usyk’s technical abilities.
“There’s a lot of stuff on the line, but I don’t hate him. I respect him as a man, as a fighter. Anyone would have to respect the man’s achievements,” Fury said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“He’s unified heavyweight champion, undisputed cruiserweight champion, but I’m the best. I’m just defending my ‘best-ness’ against him.
“If Tyson Fury can’t beat Usyk, Tyson’s no good. End of. I’ve studied this game all my life. This is my time, my destiny, my era and my generation. Facts.”
WE HAVE A NEW DATE MAY 18th,
cant wait to smash the rabbit.
massive respect to my brother @Turki_alalshikh the biggest fight of the century. Its always about the GK TYSON FURY ROLLES ON pic.twitter.com/BQtKkKHWuN— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) February 3, 2024
Claiming many of Usyk’s previous opponents had “limited ability”, Fury expects his size advantage to make the difference against the Ukrainian.
“We have weight divisions for a reason,” he said. “When the cruiserweights step up to the big boys, usually they get found wanting.
“You can beat the average big ones, but you can’t beat the elite big ones because size really matters. These are facts.”
Next month’s fight will be the first in the four-belt era with every heavyweight title on the line, with Fury and Usyk vying to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
