Egis Klimas, the manager for IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, expects WBC champion Tyson Fury to become his boxer’s toughest opponent to date.
Usyk, an Olympic gold medal winner, became the undisputed world champion at cruiserweight in 2018.
Usyk and Fury will collide on February 17th in Saudi Arabia, where organizers hope to crown an undisputed heavyweight king.
Fury is coming off one of the worst performances of his career – a ten round split decision win in a non-title crossover boxing match with MMA Francis Ngannou, who was making his pro debut.
Usyk retained his belts in August, with a knockout of mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois.
Now the stage is finally set to crown a single champion in boxing’s biggest weight class.
“Weve been working to get this fight for a long, long time and finally we did it. Definitely it isnt going to be an easy fight. It will probably be the hardest fight of Oleksandrs career. Hes confident, but simultaneously he knows full well that theres going to be a lot of work to do. Hes a hard worker, a good athlete and a very good fighter,” Klimas stated during the World Boxing Council`s weekly press conference in Mexico City.
“Its not going to be easy to get sparring partners, because Tyson Fury is very tall, with a long reach and he has a very awkward style and hes heavy, so this is going to be the biggest challenge. But I have no doubts that Oleksandr is going to win. Factors will be his footwork, his intelligence, his boxing IQ. I wouldnt even say Fury has big power. He has a lot of weight and he leans on fighters. Thats how he wears them down. But it won`t be easy to beat down Oleksandr.
“Dont forget that as cruiserweight champion Oleksandr already held all four belts. Nobody believed that he could go so far in the heavyweight division. Nobody believed that he could come in and dominate the heavyweight division which is doing. Ive been blessed to work with Oleksandr. Of course this means a lot to me. He`s a very good human being, he has no envy, he always smiles, is happy he enjoys greeting people. It is a pleasure to be with Oleksandr. This will be a great show. The biggest show!”
Credit: Boxing Scene