Tyson Fury says he respects Oleksandr Usyk “as a man, as a fighter” going into their May 18 pay-per-view fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
But Fury suggested that his not-so-secret advantage will be too much for Usyk to overcome.
Fury is 6-foot-9 and roughly 270 pounds. Usyk, a former 200-pound champion, is 6-3 and fought at 233¼ in his last fight. The former is an enormous heavyweight, the latter is naturally a small one.
Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) defeated another big heavyweight, Anthony Joshua, in back-to-back fights in 2021 and 2022 but Fury evidently doesn’t believe that means much.
Tyson Fury said his training for his May 18 fight against Oleksandr Usyk has gone well. Nathan Stirk / Getty Images
“When the cruiserweights step up to the big boys, usually they get found wanting,” said Fury, using Evander Holyfield’s ill-fated two-fight series with Lennox Lewis as an example. “You can beat the average big ones but you can’t beat the elite big ones, because size really matters. We have weight divisions for a reason, and he’s going to be found wanting when he fights me on May 18.
“This is my time, my destiny, my era and my generation. Fact.”
Of course, Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) won’t be relying solely on his size advantage at Kingdom Arena.
The 35-year-old from England almost lost a decision to MMA star and boxing novice Francis Ngannou in October, eking out a split-decision victory. Fury appeared to be unprepared for the fight.
He joked about being able to beat Usyk even if he were grossly overweight and had consumed 15 pints of beer before the fight. However, in reality, he appears to be taking this challenge as seriously as any in his career.
He looks as fit as ever more than a month before the fight, which was originally set for Feb. 17 but postponed when Fury was cut in sparring.
“I’m in fantastic shape,” he said. “I’m having a fantastic training camp, and have got a good team around me. Everything is going to plan. I’m working very hard. I’ve got my dad (John Fury) in camp this time, so I’ve got my secret weapon.
“We’ve got a full circus camp, so can’t do any more, really.”
Fury compared his meeting with Usyk to his bout with 39-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, whom Fury easily outpointed to become heavyweight champion in 2015.
He felt he had no excuse to lose to Klitschko because of the future Hall of Famer’s age. He feels the same way about his current opponent because of the size difference.
“I said if I can’t beat old Wlad, I must be useless, and I’ll say it again: If I can’t beat Usyk, I’m no good, clearly,” Fury said. “That’s your headline. If Tyson Fury can’t beat Usyk, Tyson’s no good, end of.
“But if I beat him, I beat another man, great, fantastic. On to the next one.”
