Boxing
Oleksandr Usyk dresses as hitman, gets Tyson Fury to sign poster from first fight ahead of rematch
Watch Usyk vs. Fury 2 live Dec. 21 on DAZN PPV
Mind games between opponents in the lead-up to big fights are not new in the sport of boxing, but Oleksandr Usyk may have upped the ante ahead of his highly anticipated rematch with Tyson Fury.
The men will square off in Riyadh on December 21 for a fight available live on DAZN Pay-Per-View , with Fury looking to avenge his first career loss after falling by split decision to Usyk in their first meeting back in May.
Usyk won the undisputed world heavyweight championship on that day, and although he has since vacated the IBF title, the Ukrainian is still seen as the man to beat in boxing's glamour division.
On Wednesday, build-up to the Usyk vs. Fury rematch officially kicked off with a press conference in London, and Usyk turned heads by being dressed in tailored black suit, complete with racing gloves, and a cleanly shaven head and face. The 37-year-old added a final touch to the look by carrying a briefcase to the dais, which was placed on the table in front of him and not mentioned until 15 minutes into the press conference.
At that point, Usyk revealed that he was playing a "character," likely akin to John Wick or Agent 47, and he opened the briefcase to display two posters from the first fight against Fury.
Usyk then asked his opponent to sign the posters, allowing some levity between the heavyweights as Fury commented that he looked "like Shrek" in one of the photos.
The light-hearted nature of the moment continued when Usyk returned to his seat, with the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO and IBO champion joking that the posters will be available "tomorrow on eBay."
With the fight still two months away, there's plenty of time for the usual trash-talk between the combatants to ramp up, but Usyk and Fury have surely made a unique impression with a more memorable press conference moment on Wednesday.
Sign up to a DAZN subscription to watch the very best boxing
DAZN is the home of boxing, broadcasting over 150 fights a year across boxing, bare knuckle boxing, MMA and crossover boxing.
It is not just about fight night, a DAZN membership also includes access to documentaries and features, weekly boxing magazine shows, live fight watchalongs, press conferences, weight-ins, open workouts, exclusive interviews and access to training camps, and podcasts and vodcasts.
Signing up for a subscription right now, with both annual and monthly options, will get you a ringside seat to the biggest fights still to come this year and into 2025.
That includes Jack Catterall vs. Regis Prograis this Saturday; with Sunny Edwards vs. Galal Yafai, Jaron Ennis vs. Karen Chukhadzhian, Gilberto Ramirez vs. Chris Billam-Smith, Jesse Rodriguez vs. Pedro Guevara, and many more still to come.
Sign up here for a DAZN subscription
More Boxing
- Boxing full schedule and calendar
- DAZN's upcoming Boxing shows
- Boxing rankings
- Boxing champions list in every division
- Fighter profiles and highlights
- How do weight classes work?
- What are the major boxing titles?
- How is boxing scored?
