Tyson Fury attempted to insult Oleksandr Usyk by mocking his rival’s earring – only to end up being humbled.
Fury and Usyk will meet next month to crown the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999. The rivals have been on a collision course for 18 months since Usyk completed his double act over Anthony Joshua.
And as they sat down to discuss their clash, Fury aimed a jibe at the Ukrainian. “I know he can’t beat me, I know he can’t,” he said. “A man who wears an earring can never beat Tyson Fury, ever. Not a chance, no-one who wears earrings can beat him.”
But Usyk was quick to respond as he explained his jewellery. “I can explain about the earrings. It’s Ukrainian warrior, Cossack,” he said. “They were the people who defended my country from our enemies for many years. This is just the proof of my Cossack lineage – they never lost to anybody. There is no beauty or fashion in this.”
Fury attempted to regain the upper hand, adding: “Listen in Ukraine it means he’s a good fighting man, for him. But where I’m from it means he’s a p**** with an earring in.” Fury previously promised the unbeaten heavyweight rivals would deliver a “fight for the ages” when they clash in Riyadh on February 17.
“I’m going to bust him up. Sausage. Ugly little man. Rabbit. Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run,” he said. “You know what’s coming? You’re getting smashed to pieces, sausage. You’re fighting the best British heavyweight there’s ever been.
“You’ve beaten the rest of them, but you haven’t beaten Tyson Fury, sausage. You can never beat me. If you beat me in your dreams you better wake up and apologise. I stole that from Muhammad Ali, I apologise. When you sleep at night ugly man you’re going to think of me for the next eight weeks. I’m going to punch your face in. You ugly little man.”
Fury and Usyk were being lined up to meet last month, only for the Briton’s difficulty in dispatching Francis Ngannou on a controversial night in Saudi Arabia to result in a delay. With his verbal attack on the Ukrainian over, Fury talked up the quality of a contest between two outstanding boxers who posses skill and warrior spirit in equal measure, even if he thinks Usyk will struggle because of his size.
“We’re both undefeated. He’s a champion, I’m a champion. It’s going to be a fight for the ages,” Fury said. “It’s been 24 years since we’ve had an undisputed champion. The Klitschkos were champions for around 10 years, so there’s been 14 years when the other heavyweights couldn’t do it.
“We’ve both been chosen and there can only be one winner. I’m going to become the undisputed champion. More than that, I’m destined to cement my legacy as the number one fighter of this era. To do that I’ve got to beat this little man, which is easier said than done because he’s a tricky boxer, slick and all of that.
“But I’ve seen many like him before and when they fight the big men, they struggle. And he will struggle on February 17. I will break him. He’s a middleweight, but it’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog and he’s obviously got a lot of fight in him. But when you meet a big man who is a lot bigger but also has the fight inside him, let’s put it in a nutshell – you’re f****d.”
