Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury gazed at each other with menacing intensity for nearly a dozen unbroken minutes as Thursday’s evening press conference in Riyadh culminated in a face-off that tested the nerve and audacity of both men. It was an eye-watering ordeal for the fighters, who meet in the ring again on Saturday night as Usyk defends his three world heavyweight titles in a rematch of their thrilling fight in May which the Ukrainian won on a split decision.
After seven minutes of unblinking silence, an initial attempt was made to separate Fury and Usyk. They remained locked in their increasingly bizarre glowering competition for another couple of minutes when they began to exchange verbal barbs. Amid the increasing bedlam it seemed as if Fury was doing all the shouting and, strikingly, he began sweating copiously beneath his black trilby. They were finally persuaded to break apart by some hefty security personnel.
Neither heavyweight was in much of a mood for talking even if they both seemed ready to take to the ballroom floor. Usyk looked natty in a flowing burgundy coat with the image of two wild cats stitched into the fabric while Fury wore a typically flamboyant white suit covered in roses. But Fury’s language was notably less flowery in his curt address.
“I’m going to dish out a whole lot of pain,” he said as Usyk listened with implacable assurance. “I’m going to put this fucker into the hurt locker for sure.”
Asked why there has been such a hard edge to his public appearances this week, Fury shrugged. “I’ve got nothing to say – apart from the fact that there’s going to be a whole lot of hurt and pain in this fight. That’s all I got to say. Talking’s been done. The first fight I talked, I joked – [as he did] all my career. This time, I am serious. I am going to do some fucking damage here. Watch me go to work on this fucker.”
Usyk was, typically, more relaxed as he made his own brief comments with a touch more bonhomie. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Now, we have just a performance; the talks, cameras, light and show. Everything is going to be taking place on Saturday night.”
His country is at war and Usyk is clearly not a man to be intimidated or unsettled by big talk or bleak stares. He showed Fury, again, that he will not buckle psychologically even if the physical challenge of fighting a much taller and bigger man was accentuated by their face-off. Usyk, who is 6ft 3in, had to crane his neck to gaze up at the towering figure of the heavily bearded Fury.
But the current champion knew that he already delivered the line of the night. Just before they began their searching stare-down, Usyk was asked if he had a final message for Fury.
“Do not be afraid,” Usyk said with a wry little smile. “I will not leave you alone.”
