The question of weight has long been front of mind for boxing fans ahead of the undisputed heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14) and Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (24) at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk, who will put his WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine titles on the line against Fury’s WBC belt, has settle in nicely at 221-pounds for his last three fights in the open weight class. The expectation is that he will scale something similar for this bout.
Fury is another matter entirely. The 35-year-old Brit has weighed as light at 254-pound for his bout against Otto Wallin five years ago and as much as 277-pound for his trilogy bout against Deontay Wilder and his last fight against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
Will the six-foot-nine Fury try to trim down in an effort to match the nimbleness of 37-year-old Ukrainian southpaw, or will he look to hit the higher end of the scale and use his extra bulk to bully the six-foot-three Usyk around the ring?
Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk commented of Fury’s weight at their grand arrivals today, saying: “He looks skinny, who is the middleweight now? That’s because he’s nervous, when you are nervous you lose weight or gain weight, like his father.”
Usyk added: “He looks smaller a little bit, light skinny.”
But Fury laughed off talk about his weight, insisting he was a trim and ready 266-pounds, around the same weight he scaled for his knockout wins over Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora in 2022.
“I’ll tell you my weight, it’s about 19-stone,” he said. “I wish I was [240/250lb] but I’m around 19-stone. I’ve been in good shape, I’ve two or three camps back-to-back. People say to me all the time ‘You’re looking skinny’ but I’m weighing the exact same on the scales I’ve been using for the last 10 years.”
Fury added that he can see the fight only ending one way, likening himself to wrestling giant The Undertaker.
“I predict somebody’s 0 has got to go,” he said. “Someone’s 0 has to go to and it’s going to be that team over there unfortunate for them.
“Usyk is a great fighter, Olympic gold medalist, cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion. Unfortunately for him, he has to come up against the great Tyson Fury in the era of me.
“I’m really looking forward to Saturday night. Even if he had 20-million people screaming his name, they cannot fight for him on the night.
“When there’s two men in there on the night, it’s going to be daunting when he’s got The Undertaker in the ring with him. I’m coming for you sucker, sausage.”
Meanwhile, Usyk remains quietly confident he will be the man with his hand raised at the end of the bout.
“I have plans. It’s a great plan. It’s a secret,” he said, adding: “My fans in Ukraine and all my fans, I really appreciate the support from my fans and Ukrainian soldiers. I love my fans. Thank you so much.”
