"The Gypsy King" assured that the fight with the Ukrainian was not as difficult for him as he expected.
Former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury commented on his first fight against the holder of the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBO titles Alexander Usyk, in which he lost by split decision.
According to the “Gypsy King”, the fight with the Ukrainian was not as difficult for him as he expected.
“To be honest, it was easier than I thought. I listened to Tony Bellew, I listened to Anthony Joshua, and they said that this guy is so hard to hit, he's like from the Matrix. So I thought he was very hard to hit.
I expected to throw a lot of loose punches. But he was actually a lot easier to hit than I expected, and that made me calm down a little bit because every time I threw an uppercut to the body or head or did a feint, I got it,” Boxing Scene quotes the Briton as saying.
It was previously reported that Usyk and Fury had their first stare battle before the rematch.
The Usyk-Fury rematch will take place on December 21 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). All the titles that the Ukrainian boxer holds will be at stake.
Unlike the first fight, this time the title of absolute world champion will not be at stake, since Alexander had previously renounced the IBF title. Now it is owned by Daniel Dubois, who has already managed to defend it by knocking out Anthony Joshua.
Recall that on the night of May 19, 2024, Usyk defeated Fury by split decision in a fight for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion. At the end of the ninth round, Alexander knocked his opponent down.
You can watch a video of the best moments of the Usyk – Fury fight on our website.
Thus, Alexander defended the WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF belts, and also took the WBC title from the “Gypsy King”. Usyk became the first absolute world champion in the heavyweight division in the 21st century.
Before that, the last “absolute” heavyweight champion was Lennox Lewis, who won this status in 1999, when he defeated Evander Holyfield. At that time, the WBA, WBC and IBF titles were at stake. The WBO belt was recognized as equal in 2007, so Usyk became the first “absolute” heavyweight champion in history with four main titles.