"I'm a monster!" Tyson Fury declares he will be fit to fight Oleksandr Usyk and relishes that he will be getting "70 per cent of the undisputed heavyweight championship"; Usyk insists he will continue to pursue Fury showdown, telling him: "I won't leave you alone..."
Tuesday 14 March 2023 15:36, UK
Tyson Fury has declared he will be fit to fight Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
Fury is enmeshed in fraught negotiations to fight Ukraine's Usyk for the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF championships, all four of the major heavyweight titles.
But the Briton only began his training camp last weekend, raising fears he would not be ready to box Usyk on the proposed date of April 29.
However in a public message on social media, Fury allayed those concerns.
"I can't wait, I'm in the best shape of my life," he said.
"I'm ready to rock and roll, I wish it was this weekend. I'm a monster!"
Fury fought twice last year, beating Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium and Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
He has been more active than Usyk, who won his rematch with Anthony Joshua in his only fight of 2022.
Boxing Fury would be Usyk's third undisputed championship fight. Previously in the division below he won all four of the major cruiserweight titles and defended them when he knocked out Tony Bellew in 2018 before his move up to heavyweight.
However, Fury, a 6ft 9in tall career heavyweight, is full of confidence.
In his message to Usyk, he declared: "You gappy teeth, ugly, bug-eyed rabbit… Cruiserweights are getting smashed .
"You are getting knocked out. Cruiserweights are getting demolished."
In what appears to be a sign that their negotiations are progressing towards a positive conclusion, Fury also crowed: "I've got 70 per cent of the undisputed heavyweight championship."
That was a reference to the 70/30 purse split for the fight that Fury offered Usyk, which the latter subsequently accepted.
Usyk himself gave another indication he will continue to pursue the undisputed showdown with Fury.
In a message to the WBC titlist, the Ukrainian simply said: "Hey, greedy belly, don't be afraid.
"I won't leave you alone."
