"I think Fury is a very good fighter, a good athlete. He's also got a good tongue. Tyson claims he's the king of kings, but only he thinks so. That's what I can say about him," WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KO) said.
"Can I beat him? Before my fight with Joshua, everyone was saying that I had no chance to win and beat Joshua. I've heard things like that throughout my life, but I'm capable of beating Fury," Usyk added.
"I don't pontificate that I can easily punish and beat any boxer in the world. I just go to the gym and do my job: train hard, work hard and put my all into it. And I'm not trying to pretend I'm the king of the universe. I do what I have to do. I concentrate, focus and get the result according to my efforts," Usyk stated.
In September, Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua to win the unified heavyweight crown at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Usyk will now face Joshua in a rematch, which is tentatively set for March.
And earlier this month, Fury defended his WBC belt by knocking out Deontay Wilder in the eleventh round of their trilogy at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Fury is potentially moving toward a mandatory title defense in a fight with Dillian Whyte in the first quarter of 2022.
If Fury and Usyk win their fights, they could face off in a unification of all heavyweight division belts. Many believe Usyk is too small anthropometrically to beat Fury, but the 2012 Olympic gold medal winner disagrees.
