The Ukrainian and the Briton stared into each other's eyes for more than 10 minutes.
On Thursday, December 19, the final press conference was held before the rematch between the holder of the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBO heavyweight titles Oleksandr Usyk and the former champion Tyson Fury.
The Ukrainian boxer arrived at the event in a spectacular suit and walked out on stage to a live performance of the song “Baraban” by the famous singer Artem Pivovarov.
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“Right now it's just talk, everything will happen in the ring on December 21. Now it's a show, cameras – everything will be serious on December 21,” Usyk said at a press conference.
“I have nothing to say other than there's going to be a lot of pain in this fight. You'll see. All I have to say is that all the talking is over. You know I was talking a lot in the first fight, joking around, but I'm serious this time. I'm going to do some fucking damage on Saturday night. Just watch me do my job on this fool,” Fury said.
At the end of the press conference, Usyk and Fury had a stare-off that lasted a long time. The Ukrainian and the Briton stared at each other for more than 10 minutes.
World Boxing Council (WBC) President Mauricio Sulaiman even tried to interrupt the boxers, but they continued to stare at each other.
Video of the battle of gazes
SOME STAREDOWN ️
First of fight week #Usyk2Fury | #RiyadhSeason | Dec 21, live on DAZN | Click link in bio to buy | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/Cb7hduSe2w
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 19, 2024
Full video of Usyk and Fury's press conference before the rematch
The Usyk-Fury rematch will take place on December 21 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). All titles held by the Ukrainian boxer 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 Briton Daniel Dubois, who has already managed to defend it by knocking out his compatriot 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.
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.
