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Louise Thomas
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Tyson Fury has taken to social media to launch a foul-mouthed rant and warn Oleksandr Usyk about a “mistake” he made in their first world heavyweight title fight ahead of December’s eagerly-anticipated rematch.
In the first undisputed title clash back in May, Usyk was widely seen as controlling the fight and dropped Fury in round nine, although he was ultimately only awarded a split-decision win by the judges.
The two men will run it back, once again squaring off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 21 although it won’t be for all four major belts this time after Usyk was forced to vacate the IBF title, which has since been claimed by Daniel Dubois and defended in his devastating knockout of Anthony Joshua.
Despite the Ukrainian handing him a first defeat of his professional career, Fury remains typically confident of victory in the rematch and has called out Usyk for not finishing the job properly first time around.
Posting a picture from the May fight on Instagram, Fury wrote: “U about a half feel the wrath of the Gypsy King. Should of finished me when u had the chance.”
In another post, he later added: “You had your shot but couldn’t finish the job! Mistake!
“Now your about to feel the wrath of a menace! F*** Usyk. F*** Egis Klimas. F*** Alex Krassyuk and if you’re down with Usyk then f*** you too. Gypsy King 2024 for coming for you. December 21 is mine. Me against the world. Incoming 3x heavyweight champion.”
Usyk then issued a response to his heavyweight rival, writing on his post: “You are very cool my friend.”
Fury has posted footage on social media of himself both in the gym and out running but is yet to start a full training camp ahead of the rematch.
This has sparked concern in some quarters but the Brit insists he won’t be heading into camp for a little while yet, as he slow plays the build-up to December 21.
In a recent interview, Fury said: “I haven’t started training yet. I won’t go into camp for a good while. I think I’ve got 13 weeks today until my fight. So, I’ll probably start training in about six weeks for it.
“I do about six/seven weeks of training for these fights usually and I’ll be ready to rock and roll on the night. Roll on December 21, come on!”
Despite the judges and most ringside observers agreeing that Usyk deservedly won the first fight on the scorecards, Fury remains adamant he should have earned the decision.
But he claims he won’t be leaving anything to chance this time and plans on finishing the bout early – citing his knockout victory over Deontay Wilder in their second fight, having drawn first time round.
“It’s very simple. I’ve just got to knock a motherf****r out, and I’ve made no secret of it,” he added. “I think I out-boxed him last time and I’m sure I got the decision, but I’m not going in there for a decision this time.
“I remember I boxed really well in Wilder 1, and I didn’t get the decision. I did the same the other night when I boxed three or four months ago.
“In Wilder 2, I went to knock a motherf***** out, and we all know what happened. In Usyk 2, I’m going to knock a motherf***** out!”
