We are now just 24 hours away from the highly-anticipated undisputed heavyweight title showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, and the contest has moved a step closer after the two men weighed in on Friday.
The long-awaited battle takes place on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO titles all on the line, meaning fans will see an undisputed champion crowned for the first time in 25 years.
After fight week began with an extremely fiery build-up, down in most part to John Fury headbutting a member of Team Usyk, the hostilities quieted down as the week progressed, including a low-key press conference on Thursday.
The weigh-in was held on Friday, and despite claims that Fury may weigh in at a career lightest, he tipped the scales at 262lbs. Usyk was thought to have come in at a career heaviest, as it was stated he weighed 233.5 pounds.
It turned out that this was incorrectly announced by Michael Buffer though, as Usyk’s weight was then confirmed as 223.5lbs.
Tempers then flared during the stare-down, with Fury shoving Usyk on stage, with the two teams then having to be separated.
AN INTENSE FINAL FACE OFF 🔥#FuryUsyk have to be separated 😯 pic.twitter.com/wlvCeCDFcY
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) May 17, 2024
Fury’s previous career lightest came back in July 2012 when he weighed 245.5lbs against Vinny Maddalone, while his heaviest came last time out against Francis Ngannou, where he tipped the scales at 277.75lbs.
Usyk has weighed in at 221lbs for each of his last three fights at heavyweight, having initially came in at 215lbs for his debut in the division after becoming undisputed champion at cruiserweight.
The fight between Fury and Usyk has been a long time coming, and after being discussed for years, finally looked to be taking place earlier this year in February.
Those plans were scuppered when the ‘Gypsy King’ suffered a cut late in sparring, forcing the postponement of the bout by three months and bringing us here.
There was plenty of bad blood between the two camps after the delay, but all of the talking is now done and the historic heavyweight bout is almost here.
Elsewhere on the card, Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis meet for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title, and Joe Cordina and Anthony Cacace square off for the IBF and IBO super-featherweight titles.
Former world champion Sergey Kovalev fights Robin Safar, unbeaten heavyweight fighters collide when Agit Kabayel takes on Frank Sanchez, plus the likes of Moses Itauma, Mark Chamberlain and Isaac Lowe are all in action.
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