Tyson Fury tickled Oleksandr Usyk in ringside meeting while sizing up Anthony Joshua’s opponent
Fury’s rival Joshua will fight Usyk in London this Saturday
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury sized up Anthony Joshua’s opponent Oleksandr Usyk when the pair met two year ago.
Fury and Usyk were both present for Artur Beterbiev’s knockout win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Philadelphia back in October 2019.
The meeting came 12 months after Usyk moved up to the heavyweight division after becoming undisputed cruiserweight champion.
Fury shook the hand of the Olympic gold medallist before saying: “Stand up, let me see how big you are.”
He then proceeded to give the Ukrainian a tickle as he felt his shoulders and torso, seemingly assessing the size of Usyk as he could be a future opponent.
Usyk will be hoping to join the list of great cruiserweights such as Evander Holyfield and David Haye by becoming heavyweight champion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night.
The 34-year-old is 18-0 as a professional, with his last victory coming against Briton Dereck Chisora in October of last year.
Meanwhile, Joshua reclaimed his world titles with a unanimous decision victory over Andy Ruiz Jr in December 2019.
He then defended the IBF, WBA and WBO belts against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev at the end of 2020.
Joshua and Fury looked set to meet this summer before an arbitrator ruled that WBC champion Fury had to defend his title in a third fight with American Deontay Wilder.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments