Tyson Fury avoided eye contact with Oleksandr Usyk when the two world champions faced off ahead of Saturday’s undisputed heavyweight title fight.
The victor will become the division’s first undisputed champion in the four-belt era and potentially the greatest heavyweight of this generation.
During the pre-fight news conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the champions exchanged few words.
Fury, known for his showmanship and headline-grabbing antics at such events, promised to keep it short and sweet, and he did just that.
“I’m ready. I’ve got nothing to say. I’m ready for a good fight. If it’s tough or easy. Either way I’ll be ready,” the 35-year-old Briton said.
He thanked Usyk for agreeing to the fight. When asked if he had a message for the Ukrainian, Fury added: “God bless him. I’ll say a prayer for him before the fight for us both to get out of the ring safely.”
Usyk also did not want to engage in any pre-fight trash talk. “Let’s make history. Enough,” he said.
When the two came to the front of the stage for an obligatory face-off, Usyk stood sideways but Fury instead opted to face the crowd front on.
The Gypsy King placed his trilby hat on a member of security, sang along to the music, flexed his muscles and left the stage.
Poems and homework chat in low-key news conference
Around 2,500 British fans are anticipated at the Kingdom Arena on Saturday, and several hundred attended Thursday’s news conference at the Boulevard venue. Despite their numbers, they were occasionally drowned out by a smaller group of Usyk supporters.
Drones hovered in the clear Riyadh night sky as media and photographers, drenched in sweat, jostled for the best positions.
Boxing legends and former rivals Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis watched from the front row, while several ‘A-list’ celebrities are expected to attend on fight night.
Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, quoted a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, which somewhat missed the mark with the boxing crowd.
“If I was you, I wouldn’t worry about poets, I’d worry about your man on Saturday,” replied Fury’s manager, Spencer Brown.
Despite the fight being billed as ‘Ring of Fire’, neither man brought much intensity to the pre-fight talk.
Usyk, an Olympic gold medallist and former undisputed cruiserweight champion with an undefeated record in 21 professional fights, currently holding the WBA, IBF, and WBO belts, seemed more focused on doodling on a pad of paper than engaging in the news conference.
“It’s my homework,” Usyk joked, before adding it was a poem which he would share later.
WBC champion Fury, with 34 wins and one draw, narrowly defeated boxing debutant Francis Ngannou in October.
For months, Fury has been downplaying Usyk’s abilities as a heavyweight. However, this week, he changed his approach, praising Usyk as the best fighter he will ever face.