22 Sep

"No 'Rabbits'." Usyk on Facing Fury Again

Ukrainian WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) shared his thoughts on meeting former champion Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) at the Joshua vs. Dubois fight.

— Did you see him today? Tyson Fury was ringside. Did you two talk?

— Yes, yes. "Hey, hello, friend. How are you? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." No 'rabbits' or anything like that.

— So, what did Tyson say?

— "Hi. How are things? All good?" No issues. We'll be nice to each other. But a lot of talking is just for show. Maybe many don’t understand what's going on, but I do because I’ve been in this business for a long time.

— Three months to the fight. Have you already started your training camp? You’re looking for sparring partners through Ready to Fight, right?

— Yes, that’s correct. After my fight with Fury, I took about 2-3 weeks off, but since then, I've been training every day – cardio, not boxing, more physical preparation, a bit of boxing, but I train every day, even if it’s light. Once a day, yes. Tomorrow, we start again, getting back to training camp, starting full intensity. Three sessions a day – sparring, running, basketball, swimming, sleep, food.

— And sparring partners? You’ll be looking for them, possibly through RTF? Is that your plan?

— Yes.

— Lastly, we’ll see you in camp. You won brilliantly last time. What’s going to happen again on December 21 when you face Tyson Fury?

— Oh no, I’m bad at predictions.

— But you predicted the Joshua fight!

— Yes (laughs), and look what happened.

— But you’ll beat Fury again?

— I will win, God willing.

In May, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision, becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion. Their rematch is set for December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Support