Oleksandr Usyk confident he has advantages over Tyson Fury
Larger than life Tyson Fury is widely known for his mind games but it’s his next opponent Oleksandr Usyk who is trying to get into his head as he claims to have advantages he doesn’t know about.
Reigning heavyweight champions Fury and Usyk have got an historic fight ahead of them on February 17 out in Saudi Arabia. It will be the first undisputed battle for all four major heavyweight belts since Lennox Lewis last held them back in 1999.
Usyk is in fine form coming off the back of a trio of big wins – the first was against Anthony Joshua in 2021 when he relieved the Brit of the WBA, WBO and IBF titles. He then defended them against the same man a year later, and in August last year, he saw off the challenge of another powerful Brit in Daniel Dubious.
Fury meanwhile has faced plenty of questions about where he is at in his career after a less than fantastic showing abasing Francis Ngannou back in October that saw him put on the canvas in round three and only narrowly take a pints win over the former UFC champion turned boxing novice.
Usyk has been speaking to The Ring ahead of the contest and says he is only focused on himself, “I really don’t think about Tyson Fury. I don’t look at the way he acts and what he does. Most of his opponents fell for it. I don’t.
“For me, I focus on how I am, and how I prepare for when I go into the ring. Me and my trainer have watched his fights. We are preparing for everything. We have to watch what he is doing.”
He then said he has some tricks up his sleeve for ‘The Gypsy King’, who Johnny Nelson thinks is struggling in camp.
“I don’t care about what Fury thinks about me. He can underestimate. He can overestimate me. I don’t care. I have my plans for him. I have advantages over him that he does not know about.”