Usyk And Fury Faced Off Ahead of Highly Anticipated Rematch In Saudi Arabia

Unified Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk And Challenger Tyson Fury Prepare For Their December 21st Showdown

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury faced off in London ahead of their rematch / Richard Pelham/Getty Images.

By Moses Ochieng

With less than two months remaining until their highly anticipated rematch, unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and challenger Tyson Fury faced off at a press conference in London on Wednesday to promote their December 21st bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) narrowly defeated Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) in a split decision (115-112, 114-113, 113-114) when they first met in May for the undisputed heavyweight title, in what many still consider the leading contender for 2024's Fight of the Year.

Following his first career loss, Tyson Fury vowed to knock out Usyk in their upcoming rematch for the undisputed heavyweight championship.

 “It’s actually been about four and a half years. Last time was the [Deontay] Wilder II fight when I was the underdog. What’s going through my mind? I’m just looking forward to a fantastic fight. Last time in May it was a fantastic fight. Oleksandr won the fight fair and square. [I’m] just looking to put on a great fight again. It was very close last time; he got it by a point. A little bit more focus, a little bit more lack of complacency and I should do the job I need to do. Nothing drastic has to change. A bit more of the same. A bit more focus, like I say, and I will be victorious,” Fury stated in the press conference.

“I believe it will be my time next time and I believe all things that happen, negative or positive, are lessons. We must learn from the things we go through in our lives, and we can only do the best we can do as human beings and as boxers and as fathers and as husbands. We can only do the best we can do as men. And what we know how to do best is go in there and knock fuck out of each other in a fight and put on a show for the paying customer,” added Fury.

Usyk, who remains undefeated in his 22 professional fights, took the chance to playfully mock Fury during the press conference. Dressed as the character Hitman from the popular video game, Usyk appeared relaxed and cheerful, though he kept his comments to a minimum.

“What is my motivation? I don’t have motivation. Only my regime, only my concentration. This is my motivation. Enough,” Usyk stated.