Tyson Fury declares before his showdown with Oleksandr Usyk that this is “my time, my destiny, my era and my generation.”
WBC boxing champion Fury will face Ukraine’s WBA, IBF and WBO boxing champion Usyk in Saudi Arabia on May 18 in the first undisputed world heavyweight match of this century.
Regarding his opponent, the former lightweight champion who debuted in 2019, Fury said at a press conference on Wednesday: “This is not a personal feud, this is business for both fighters. Although there are many things , but I don’t hate him, and he doesn’t hate me.
“I respect him as a man, as a fighter. Everyone has to respect this man’s achievements. Good fighter – I have a tough challenge in front of me. But I’m very confident in my abilities and very confident that I will Beat that guy.
“When the lightweights challenge the big guys, they usually find they fall short. You can beat the average big guys, but you can’t beat the elite big guys because size does matter. We have weight divisions. Reason, when he fights me on May 18, we’re going to find out he’s lacking. This is my time, my destiny, my era and my generation. Facts.”
Fury, a self-proclaimed “encyclopedia of boxing”, cited a number of examples of the rise of lightweights, including Evander Holyfield, who fought Lennox Lewis in 1999 lost an undisputed heavyweight match.
The fight was originally scheduled for February 17, but was postponed 15 days after Fury suffered a cut above his right eye during a boxing match. The 35-year-old said: “I was a little frustrated at first, the first day or so, but then, like everything in life, I realized that God’s timing is impeccable and perfect. Not too late and not too late. Early and on time. It wasn’t my time to fight yet, but May 18th will be my time.
“I’m in great shape. I’m going through a great training camp, I have a great team around me and everything will go according to plan. I’m working hard and I have my dad by my side. [John Fury] This time at camp, so I had my secret weapon. We already have a full circus camp, so we can’t really do any more. “
He later added: “I think if I hadn’t trained for this camp at all, I’d just come in at 25 stone, drank about 15 pints of Peroni beforehand and got there the next day, he was What? [Usyk] What are you going to do – poke me? Nothing to take away, but there was nothing he could do against Derek Chisora (who Usyk defeated in a heavyweight bout in 2020). It’s a 50-50 battle. “
Since defeating Chisora, Usyk has won unanimous decision and split decision over Anthony Joshua and knocked out Daniel Dubois in the ninth round.
At a press conference on Wednesday at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium in Morecambe, near where Fury lives, his father, coach Sugarhill Stewart, promoter Frank Warren and manager Spencer Brown all predicted the Briton will defeat his undefeated comrade Usyk. Fury himself later joked: “I would have chosen Usyk to knock me out in the first round – I would have tried to do that, why not?”
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) defeated Usyk’s compatriot Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 to become world champion for the first time. He added: “I said if I can’t beat Vlad Sr. I must be useless and I’ll say it again – if I can’t beat Usyk then I’m obviously not good. That’s your title … If Tyson Fury doesn’t beat Usyk, Tyson is done. But if I beat him, I beat another guy, great, great — on to the next one.”
