Tag: Oleksandr Usyk

Hopefully for Oleksandr Usyk, feeling “good enough” will be enough.

After walking away with a split-decision win over Tyson Fury in May, the reigning WBO, WBC, and WBA heavyweight world champion will put his trio of titles on the line in one of the most anticipated rematches in boxing history. Usyk vs. Fury 2 will go down on December 21 inside Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia — the same site as their inaugural meeting.

With fight night right around the corner, both Usyk and ‘The Gyspy King’ are making the media rounds, and perhaps surprisingly, neither one has been terribly interested in talking.

“I feel good enough,” Usyk told Sky Sports when asked about Saturday’s sequel scrap in Riyadh.

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk keeping their trash talk to a minimum ahead of rematch

Usky’s first meeting with Fury was a fairly close affair with the Ukrainian narrowly outstriking Fury by a margin of 170-157. However, an eighth-round flurry followed by a knockdown in the ninth ultimately sealed Fury’s fate, handing him his first career loss after logging 34 wins and one draw.

‘The Gyspy King’ has gone on to blame the cut he sustained as the main culprit for coming up short on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

Aside from that, Fury hasn’t been very vocal during fight week this time around, instead choosing to focus on getting the job done and getting back home to his kids in time for Christmas — preferably with the WBO, WBA, and WBC world heavyweight titles packed in his carry-on.

Tyson Fury isn’t in Riyadh to sell a fight.

Seven months after suffering the first loss of his illustrious career, ‘The Gyspy King’ will run it back with reigning and defending WBA, WBF, and IBO heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Saturday.

Usyk landed a closely contested split decision over Fury after wobbling ‘The Gypsy King’ in the eighth round before sending him crashing to the canvas in the ninth. Fury recovered and went on to win the 12th and final round, but by then, he was already behind on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

Tyson Fury focused on getting the job done and going home

This time around, Fury is as confident as ever that he’ll come out on top and avenge his lone loss — he’s just not interested in talking about it.

“I’ve got nothing to say,” Fury told Dev Sahni ahead of his return to the ring on December 21. “Like, all camp, I’ve not been interested in talking or selling the fight. It’s been sold. It got sold last year. This fight doesn’t need any selling, so I’m not here to sell anything. I’m just here to do what I’ve got to do, go home. I don’t even want to be here, do you know what I mean? I don’t want to be here today doing all these interviews. I want to go Saturday night, smash him, and fly home for Christmas with the kids, do you know what I mean? 100%.

“So, there’s nothing going on in my mind. I’m just here going through the motions. Not got a lot to say. The camp’s been good. Everything’s been cushy, as you would expect. I am in great shape—all the above.”

Before his loss to Usyk, Tyson Fury had strung together 34 straight wins with 24 of them coming by way of knockout.

Usyk enters the rematch with his ‘O’ still intact and his name etched in the history books as just one of three fighters to become an undisputed world champion in two different weight classes during the four-belt era. Overall, Usyk is 22-0 with 14 career KOs.

Tyson Fury is feeling as confident as ever ahead of his highly anticipated rematch against Oleksandr Usyk.

In May, ‘The Gypsy King’ came up short against Usyk in Saudi Arabia, suffering a split-decision loss — the first defeat of his illustrious career. On December 21, he’ll have his chance to even the series and claim the WBA, WBO, and WBC heavyweight world titles in Riyadh.

Fury appeared to have things well in hand during the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds of their first meeting, but things took a massive swing in the eighth when Usyk caught Fury on the nose with a booming blow. In the next round, the Ukrainian sent Fury crashing to the canvas and had him on wobbly legs.

Fury recovered — as he often does — and even went on to win the 12th round, but by then it was too little too late.

Tyson Fury promises to ‘rise like a phoenix’ in usyk rematch

Speaking with TNT Sports ahead of Saturday’s sequel scrap in Riyadh, Fury insists that the cut he suffered during the fight was what ultimately cost him the contest — something he refuses to let happen a second time.

“I ain’t got a cut this time,” Fury said. “I’m nursing. I’ve never been as confident in my life as I am smashing his face in. Even at 36, when people think he’s finished, he will rise like a phoenix from the ashes. I’m going to destroy this f*cker on Saturday night. You watch. Watch me go to work on Saturday night. You watch it. I beat him last time nursing a massive cut.”

In their first encounter, Usyk outlanded Fury 170-157 in total punches; the 170 landed punches were the most by any Fury opponent.

Usyk’s win also made him just the third fighter in the four-belt era to become an undisputed champion in two divisions, joining Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford and Naoya Inoue.