Tyson Fury has backtracked on his criticism of rival Oleksandr Usyk's size and pointed out he is bigger than legendary heavyweight Muhammad Ali.
Fury defeated Derek Chisora in a trilogy bout last weekend at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with heavyweight rival Usyk sat ringside waiting to make a call-out. Usyk recently defeated Anthony Joshua for a second time to defy the critics, who had previously suggested he would be too small for the blue-riband division after stepping up from cruiserweight.
The pair confronted each other in the ring after the fight where Fury burst into a furious rant which criticised Usyk's height. He shouted in his rival's face: "Usyk you’re next you little b****. You are next. Me and you next. You’re next. Rabbit! P****! Fifteen stone little midget bodybuilder. Well I ain’t a bodybuilder, I’m going to write you off.
"You ugly little man. Lets get it on b****. You may laugh now but I’ll end this lil sucker. I’ll end you. You little sucker. What are you gonna do? You’re gonna do f*** all you little sausage." Fury has since taken a more serious approach to Usyk's size, suggesting that he shouldn't have it held against him after his achievements in the division.
“Listen it is boxing and styles do make fights," he said during an appearance on talkSPORT. "He’s beat a big guy before, AJ – 6ft 6ins – I’m not that much taller than him. I’ve been searching the world, I’ve travelled all over, to find a challenger who can beat me, and I can’t find one. 14 years. Usyk’s about 6ft 3ins and just under 16 stone.
“He’s a pretty big boy, he’s a lot bigger than Muhammad Ali was back in the day. He’s bigger than Evander Holyfield, he’s bigger than Mike Tyson, he’s bigger than Joe Frazier, he’s bigger than Ken Norton. He’s probably the same size as ‘big’ George Foreman. Everybody used to say ‘big’ George Foreman, now they’re saying ‘little tiny’ Usyk at the same weight and size.”
Who wins when the pair meet - Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk? Let us know in the comments section below
Usyk stands six inches smaller than Fury, but has previously outboxed Joshua twice who stands at six feet six inches tall. Talks are already underway for a fight to take place following his win over Chisora, and a fight is expected to be announced in the coming weeks for next spring.
In a brief update on the status of negotiations between both teams, Usyk's manager Egis Klimas claimed that fight was almost done, and expects the fight to most likely land in Saudi Arabia. He said: "We are almost done. There is not much to talk, two heavyweights, the undisputed heavyweight championship bout, that's what people need... Most likely, we are aiming for Saudi."
