‘He changed his tune’ – Fans confused as Tyson Fury turns on Oleksandr Usyk with respectful message

Tyson Fury was surprisingly complimentary of his rival Oleksandr Usyk in a new interview.

The ‘Gypsy King’ will attempt to become the first undisputed world champion of the four-belt era when he touches gloves with Usyk on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.

2

So far, Fury has attempted to lure Usyk into a battle of mind games, and he has regularly mocked his fellow champion’s size by calling him a “middleweight.”

But Fury has now given surprising credit to Usyk’s achievements in a contrasting assessment of the task at hand.

He said in an interview with Queensberry Promotions: “Oleksandr Usyk is a very bad man and to underestimate Usyk, you would be a mouth.

“So I train hard for him, I do everything I can.

“I respect Usyk as a man. I also respect his career – Olympic champion, undisputed cruiserweight champion, unified heavyweight champion.

“You have to respect that, I’m fighting the real deal. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“He has good footwork, good boxing ability and is technically sound.

“He proved he can hang with the big heavyweights because he beat Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. I’m playing with an elite fighter.”

Fans were stunned by his new stance, with one writing: “Tomorrow Tyson Fury will call Usyk a gap-tooth and a backstabber.”

Another wrote: “Well he changed his tune. »

One added: “He changed his story and stayed pretty quiet. Finally it looks like Fury is taking him seriously.

2

“As much as I like Usyk, I think Fury is just too big. Either way, it should be a fun fight.”

He has regularly joked that his next fight against Usyk will be a routine night, although it will likely be anything but given the Ukrainian’s skills.

Usyk is undefeated in his professional career and has yet to be beaten at heavyweight since moving up from cruiserweight where he reigned as undisputed champion.

He comfortably dispatched Joshua in their two heavyweight showdowns in September 2021 and August 2022, and will likely provide the most rigorous examination of Fury’s credentials.

Fury, who is yet to be defeated, previously claimed that Usyk wouldn’t even be able to inflict a defeat on him with a baseball bat.

He said at their press conference in November 2023: “I really have nothing to fear with Oleksandr.

“I think even if he had a baseball bat in one hand and a meat cleaver in the other, he couldn’t really do much to me. I’d still beat him.

“It doesn’t matter what size. It’s a middleweight. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

“He’s got a big fight in him, but when you meet a big man who’s a lot bigger than you and he’s also got the fight inside, let’s put it in one word: you’re screwed.”

It is clear that the WBC champion is taking things seriously, given his transformation since his narrow victory against Francis Ngannou in October 2023.

Boxing WhatsApp Channel