Usyk Vs Fury 2: It Won’t Be Business As Usual, Fury Is Out For Revenge Against Usyk In Riyadh Tonight

Tyson Fury’s legacy is at stake after he was defeated by Usyk in their previous Bout

Tyson Fury poses for a portrait ahead of the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO Undisputed World Heavyweight Title fight between him and Usyk . He has warned Usyk of body damage / Getty Images.

By Isaac Nyamungu

The Oleksandr Usyk’s narrow win in that exciting match in Riyadh made him the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in nearly 25 years and imposed a first professional defeat on Fury.

On Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Ukrainian’s Usyk and the Brit’s Tyson Fury will face off for the WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight championships in a replay of their first meeting in May.

It is back to business for the highly expected rematch, the humour and affability have dissolved.

Fury made his professional entrance at the age of 20 on 6 December 2008 in Nottingham, on the undercard of Carl Froch vs. Jean Pascal against Hungarian fighter Bela Gyongyosi (3–9–2), who Fury overpowered via TKO in the first round with a combination to head and body.  He then had six more bouts in the space of seven months, beating Marcel Zeller (21–3), Daniil Peretyatko (15–20), Lee Swaby (23–22–2), Matthew Ellis (20–6–1), Scott Belshaw (10–1) and Aleksandrs Selezens (3–6) all via knockout within 4 rounds.

“I’m going to dish out a whole lot of pain. I’m going to put this f****r in the hurt locker, for sure,” said Fury, 36, at the last media conference on Thursday night.

The undisputed heavyweight titlist – Usyk was compelled to relinquish the IBF title because he agreed to the rematch—which will become a trilogy if Fury emerges victorious on Saturday. Daniel Dubois was raised to IBF champion based on his victory over Filip Hrgovic.

“The talking’s been done. The first fight, I talked, I joked – all my career [I’ve done that]. This time I’m serious,” said the Gypsy King.

Usyk, 37, was even more reserved.

“Now, we have just a performance; the talks, cameras, light and show,” he said. “Everything is going to be taking place on Saturday night,” said Usyk during the press conference.

Offered the chance for a face-off in the last media conference before their final bout, Fury wouldn’t even look at Usyk, rather he stared into the crowd.

This time, they locked eyes and an inexplicable stare-down commenced to unfold. Some minutes passed in silence before they began to trade barbs. They were lastly dragged away after the 11-minute mark.

That both boxers mean business is barely surprising, given what’s at stake.

Oleksandr Usyk born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional fighter. He has held the undisputed crowns in two weight classes, at cruiserweight and heavyweight, and led as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from May to June 2024. He has also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) title since 2021, and the ‘Ring’ magazine title since 2022.

Usyk is the first undisputed heavyweight titlist since Lennox Lewis was stripped of the title on 12 April 2000, and the first heavyweight in history to hold the world titles of all four major sanctioning bodies—the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version), World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization (WBO)—in the "four-belt era