Fully clothed Fury four stone heavier than Usyk
- Published
A fully clothed Tyson Fury weighed in at a career-heavy 20st 1lb for Saturday's heavyweight world title fight against champion Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine's Usyk will defend his WBA (Super), WBC and WBO titles against two-time champion Fury at Riyadh's Kingdom Arena.
Dressed in a leather jacket, white trousers and a baseball cap - which he kept on when he stepped on the scales - Fury weighed in four stone heavier than his opponent.
He cut a more relaxed figure than he has throughout the week, even shaking hands with Usyk's team.
But the 36-year-old Briton seemed eager to get Friday's weigh-in over and looked away after just seven seconds during their final face-off. They had shared an 11-minute face-off a day earlier.
The Morecambe fighter walked off without giving an on-camera interview.
Usyk, asked how he was feeling, simply replied: "Nothing."
The 37-year-old earned a split decision win for the undisputed title in May, inflicting a first career loss on Fury.
He too was fully dressed in a tracksuit as he tipped the scales, making it difficult to determine the boxers' conditioning and shape, as he weighed in at 16st 2lb, just two pounds heavier than his weight for the first fight.
"You can analyse it anyway you like but tomorrow night you're going to find out who is the best," Fury's promoter, Frank Warren, said.
"You know both of them will come to fight. We are going to see something extra, extra special."
- Published20 December 2024
- Published19 December 2024
Teams locked in 'beardgate' & officials dispute
Away from the weigh-in, the fighters' teams are in a dispute over a replacement official and the length of Fury's beard.
Fury has grown a bristly beard, which he says provides added strength. Boxing rules usually require facial hair to be of a certain length. Stubble, for example, can further damage a cut.
At a rules meeting on Friday, Fury's beard was cleared. Usyk's team, however, are planning to "push this further".
Speaking to the Independent,, external Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk cited WBC rules setting out that the length of facial hair cannot act as a cushion for the impact of a punch.
Meanwhile, Fernando Barbosa was set to be one of the three judges on Saturday but he has not travelled to Riyadh because of illness.
Steve Weisfeld and Ignacio Robles were flown in to replace Barbosa, but the two fighters' teams were split on which judge should be used.
Robles will be the third judge after a coin toss was used to decide.
Fury & Usyk set for another lucrative pay day
Friday is not a working day in Saudi and as such the weigh-in – held at a garden-themed theme park - was slightly better attended than other fight week events.
The distant screams from a rollercoaster were drowned out by some travelling British fans chanting "there's only one Tyson Fury".
They were joined by a couple of hundred Saudis, most of whom happened to be visiting the theme park. Blockbuster boxing shows in the Kingdom have been criticised for their low attendance. While it takes time to cultivate new boxing fans, local interest in this bout does not appear to be growing at the quickest of rates.
Usyk v Fury could sell out any stadium in the United Kingdom, but the fighters benefit from fighting in the Middle East because of the investment of the energy-rich Saudi organisers.
Although exact purses have not been revealed, the pair - according to unconfirmed reports - will share prize money of £150m, with the split undisclosed.
Fury reportedly took home as much as £85m for the first fight, significantly higher than Usyk's purse of £35m.
Related topics
- Published17 December 2024
- Published28 April 2024
More boxing from the BBC
- Published6 June 2024