Tyson Fury dupes Oleksandr Usyk as heavyweight rivals weigh in for Saudi showdown
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have weighed in and seen each other for the final time ahead of their undisputed heavyweight title fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Tyson Fury weighed in at his lightest weight for five-and-a-half years but Oleksandr Usyk may have expected him to be carrying even less mass than he was. The Gypsy King tipped the scales at 262lbs for his undisputed heavyweight title fight with Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
While he came in light - as was expected - he weighed similar to what he did when he fought Derek Chisora for the third time 18 months ago (268lbs), shredding just six pounds this time around despite rumours he could come in considerably lighter.
Fury's fight weigh did however represent a big drop off from his last fight against Francis Ngannou when he tipped the scales at a whopping 277.7lbs. The WBC champion underperformed in his last outing and will be looking to right the wrongs from that display against ex-UFC star Ngannou as he bids to become the first undisputed heavyweight champ since Lennox Lewis.
Unified champion Usyk, meanwhile, tipped the scales at 223.19lbs, a couple of pounds heavier than last time out against Daniel Dubois. But Fury's weight has been the story that has dominated fight week. Usyk acknowledged it on Tuesday to get the ball rolling.
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Asked if he thought Fury looked smaller than usual live on DAZN's coverage of the Grand Arrivals, Usyk concurred: "Yeah, a little bit, a little bit, like, skinny." His promoter, Alex Krassyuk, joined him on the broadcast and shared a theory as to why. "That's because he's nervous. When you get nervous, you lose weight," he claimed. Before that, the promoter also quipped: "Who's the middleweight now?"
Fury played up to that theory when having those comments put to him minutes later, albeit sarcastically. "I'm very nervous, Usyk," he said. "Please don't beat me up on Saturday night. Please. Extra please." Speaking later on, he somewhat overestimated his own weight, stating that he was around 19 stone. Three days later he has now weighed in at 18st 7lb.
A stone lighter than against Ngannou, it is the slimmest he has been for five-and-a-half years since the first Wilder fight. Fury finally cracked at the weigh-in having seemed cool, calm and relaxed all week, shoving Usyk after the weigh-in and vowing to knock him spark out.
The Brit said: "We're ready to rock and roll you know. Fireworks tomorrow night, I'm going to knock this little f***er spark out. I'm coming for his heart that's what I'm coming for, f*** his belts, I'm coming for his heart. He's getting it tomorrow, spark out! F*** him and f*** all his team too. F*** the lot of them, they can all get it if they want it too, s***houses."
Fury's camp has spent all week playing down any suggestions that he would be coming in at a career-low weight. However, he has been working with a new nutritionist in Greg Marriott over the last six months.
The recent addition to his team explained the work that Fury has been putting in since November. "I said, 'We need to get some fat off you,' Marriott explained to Sky Sports. "So, we went out to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in November, did a fat-loss camp for six weeks, and then got into serious training."
"The body composition that has changed with him, still being 18st-10lbs, I think people think he's going to be like 17-13 - never." The nutritionist added: "He comes into my room every night, and he says to me, 'Greg, I haven't felt like this since Wilder 2.'"