Fury vs. Usyk: 'The biggest fight of the 21st century' is finally here
The two best heavyweights, both undefeated, square off in historic showdown to produce division's 1st undisputed champion in 25 years
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As the days wind down to the historic undisputed heavyweight title fight between lineal/WBC champion Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, holder of the WBO, IBF and WBA belts, both have had less and less to say.
Usyk has never been a big talker and has not had much to say at all since the fight was signed in late September, although he is always polite and courteous. Fury, with his giant personality, is often hard to quiet down and he was his typical jovial self at the grand arrivals on Monday. Then he danced and sang during a media workout on Wednesday night.
But their moods seemed to turn more serious on Thursday night at the final news conference, which was outdoors in 95 degree heat at BLVD City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and although they stood next to each after the formal program, Fury surprisingly declined to engage Usyk in the traditional face off.
“I am going to make this short and simple,” Fury said when it was his turn to speak at the news conference. “I want to thank God for the victory that I have received already and I want to thank everybody involved for putting this massive event on. I want to thank Usyk for turning up and challenging me and that is about it.
“Thank you to all the fans who have traveled over to support me. I know it is tough at the moment and money is hard, so I aim to put on a show. I’m ready. I’ve got nothing to say apart from I am ready for a good fight. Tough or easy, either way I will be ready.”
Usyk had even less to say.
“I am happy to be here,” he said. “I am excited and I am grateful to His Excellency (Turki Alalshikh of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority) for making this fight happen. Let’s make history. Enough. Thank you so much.”
History will indeed be at hand when Fury and Usyk square off in their monumental showdown that headlines a loaded card on Saturday (12 p.m. ET, PPV.com, DAZN PPV, ESPN+ PPV in the U.S., $69.99; also TNT Sports PPV and Sky Box Office in the U.K.) at sold-out Kingdom Arena.
The winner will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years, since Lennox Lewis outpointed fellow Hall of Famer Evander Holyfield — both of whom are on hand in Riyadh this week — in their rematch to unify the three major titles needed for the designation when they met in Las Vegas in November 1999. Saturday’s winner will also become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.
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