Tyson Fury has taken on a WWE wrestling persona for fight week, dubbing himself ‘The Undertaker’ ahead of Saturday night’s battle with Oleksandr Usyk.
“The Gypsy King” made his grand arrival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday following a roughhouse day 24 hours earlier where his father headbutted a young member of Team Usyk. Questions tended to stray across to ‘Big John’ at times, although Fury seemed focused on Usyk and the undisputed task at hand.
Fury has been the lineal heavyweight champion for nearly nine years and has seen it all before. He is coming off last October’s decision over Francis Ngannou and looks in far better shape this time around.
The pair were due to meet in December and then February, with Fury calling off the fight on both occasions. The second delay came after a Fury cut suffered in sparring scuttled their rescheduled date of February 17. However, the world’s top two heavyweight champions are finally in the exact location and ready to fight.
A trimmer Fury, who many expect to weigh in at his lowest since the Deontay Wilder rematch, is confident he has what it takes to inflict a first loss on the Ukrainian Pound-for-Pound star.
“It feels fantastic to be in the great Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I’m feeling fantastic. I can’t wait to put a good show on. There are so many people coming. It’s such an event. All the big stars are here. It’s going to be epic. I can’t wait for Saturday night,” said Fury.
“If I were fighting an old dosser on Saturday night who had five fights and lost them all, it would be very important to me. Every fight I’ve ever had is important to me. Every little fight along the way was important to me. I believe that every left and right turn I’ve ever taken in my life, every time I’ve fallen over, and every time I’ve climbed up was all leading to this moment. It’s destiny.”
Asked for his thoughts on facing an undefeated technician in Usyk, Fury added: “I predict that somebody’s ‘0’ has got to go. And it’s going to be that team over there, unfortunately for them.
“Oleksandr Usyk is a great fighter. Olympic gold medalist, cruiserweight world champion, heavyweight world champion. Unfortunately, he has to come against the great Tyson Fury in my era. I’m looking forward to Saturday night.
“Even if he had 20 million people screaming his name, they cannot fight for him on the night. And when two men are in there on the night. It will be very daunting when he has the undertaker in the ring with him.”
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Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.