WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol believes that there is a big favourite when it comes to the victor of the undisputed heavyweight title clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury and Usyk will finally meet for all four world heavyweight title belts on February 17 in Saudi Arabia where fans finally find out who is the number one fighter in the division.
Before looking ahead to the Fury vs. Usyk fight, Bivol first gave his assessment of the British fighter's performance against the former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and it wasn't a positive one.
"I was surprised. I didn’t give Francis too much expectation but he was good," Bivol told FightHub TV.
"He was good and Tyson was so bad today to be honest.”
As a result of Fury's poor showing in October, Bivol now believes Usyk is a favourite to topple the WBC world heavyweight champion when they meet next year.
"Fury needs to have a good training camp before Usyk. If we see this Fury against Usyk, we know what will happen to be honest. Usyk is big favourite now for the fight."
Bivol also has an undisputed fight of his own in his sights with the WBA world title holder hoping to secure a date with IBF, WBC and WBO 175lb champion Artur Beterbiev at some point in 2024.
However, both men have fights they need to successfully navigate if that particular fight is to be made a reality. First, Bivol has to defend his title against Britain's Lyndon Arthur on December 23, while Beterbiev also has to get past another Brit in the form of Callum Smith when the pair meet next January in Canada.