Tyson Fury: ‘Avoiding eye contact with Usyk does not mean I am scared of him’

Loquacious British boxer Tyson Fury refused to look Oleksandr Usyk in the eye as the pair met ahead of Saturday night’s undisputed heavyweight title fight.

Both WBC champion Fury and WBO, WBA, and IBF champion Usyk are undefeated with the fight set to crown the heavyweight division’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis 25 years ago.

The highly anticipated showdown is taking place in Saudi Arabia and there has already been controversy in the build-up, with a member of the Ukrainian’s team complaining about the ring canvas.

But in the pre-fight news conference on Thursday night, both boxers were just eager to get on with proceedings, exchanging very few words between them.

There was one curious incident, however, with Fury refusing to look his opponent in the eye as the two came together for the obligatory face-off.

 Usyk stood sideways to face the Brit as is custom, but Fury instead turned toward the crowd, flexed his muscles, and sang along to the background music before finally leaving the stage.

Usyk seemed unfazed by the antics, though still tried to get a glimpse of the Gypsy King’s eyes before he left.

Explaining his actions, Fury simply told Sky Sports: ‘He’s a scary-looking dude.’

Refusing the face-off goes against tradition and is especially unusual for Fury, who loves to stare down his opponents.

He would later add: ‘I want to thank Usyk for challenging me. I aim to put on a show.

 ‘I’m ready. I have nothing to say, apart from I’m ready for a good fight and if it’s tough or easy, either way, I’m ready.

‘God bless him. I’ll say a prayer for him before the fight for us both to get out of the ring safely.’

Usyk was even less talkative, saying: ‘Let’s make history. Enough. Let your hands talk in the ring.’