Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD

Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD

Get unlimited access to 10,000+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just

$149.99
 
$74.99/Year

Try GOLD - Free

My main issue for this fight? Finding boxers who match Tyson’s size!

Evening Standard

|

May 16, 2024

OLEKSANDR USYK has a remarkable ability to block out the noise. After two scheduled fights against Tyson Fury were postponed, he has had to.

- Matt Majendie

My main issue for this fight? Finding boxers who match Tyson’s size!

The clash between the two camps at the start of this week was the latest in what he sees as his rival's histrionics, ending with Fury's father, John, bleeding after a head-butt.

As the week continues, Usyk is all too aware the barbs will likely keep coming, such as Fury previously suggesting he was so confident of winning the pair's heavyweight unification fight that he could do so after 15 pints - Peroni beers, to be more specific.

Non-plussed by the bravado, Usyk, speaking from his training camp in Valencia before jetting off to Saudi Arabia, said: "I would advise him to do 15 rounds of sparring instead of 15 pints.

"Look, I have no idea what Tyson Fury is saying, and I'm not interested at all.

He repeats the same things again and again, and the fight is postponed again and again, not on my initiative. Let him finally get into the ring and try to really show something." Fury-Usyk has been a long time in coming, first scheduled before Christmas and then at the end of February before Fury suffered a nasty gash above his eye. Now set for Saturday-barring any late hiccups the Ukrainian insists he is ready to win, despite giving away half a foot in height and seven inches in reach.

Speaking early last month, Fury had talked down his former cruiserweight opponent's credentials, saying: "When the cruiserweights step up to the big boys, they usually get found wanting."

MORE STORIES FROM Evening Standard

The London Standard

The London Standard

The philosopher who says big tech has got it wrong on superintelligence

Where does science end and philosophy begin?

time to read

2 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

The bitter battle over the future of Truman Brewery

A £500m redevelopment plan is pitting Labour's data-centre ambitions against Brick Lane's heritage and a desperate need for housing — it's a political powder keg.

time to read

5 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

Goldin's family album is as radical as ever

Diaries are irresistible to the nosy, an artist's one even more so. They are portals into another person's life in another time.

time to read

3 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

Bathroom confidential: inside the calming sanctums of London's top hair and beauty experts

Fancy your own private ritual space at home? Then take a few tips from these masters of elegant self-care.

time to read

6 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

Revival of an American classic is a luridly weird study in power dynamics

A study of two damaged brothers whose lives are disrupted by an outsider, Lyle Kessler's blend of absurdism and realism could be a Philadelphia-set companion to Pinter's The Caretaker.

time to read

1 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

Ex-tennis star Andy Murray celebrates at Nobu, shops at Whole Foods and dates at... McDonald's

The Tube has become so much easier for me now people don't look up from their phones

time to read

3 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

London's hottest postcodes

THE NEIGHBOURHOODS WHERE DEMAND FOR HOMES IS AT FEVER PITCH. BY ANNA WHITE

time to read

3 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

How to style out your great winter escape

Whether it's swimming, skiing or sandalling, here's every label you need to know for a super-chic holiday wardrobe update

time to read

3 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

Pilates queen Bryony Deery

The mind-body expert has a morning ritual, but with soundbaths and sleep supplements her evening routine is where it gets serious

time to read

3 mins

January 15, 2026

The London Standard

The London Standard

My adult gap year changed my life — I fell in love with the whole crazy world again

didn't imagine I'd meet the man I would marry in a queue for the long drop on the side of a mountain in Peru.

time to read

4 mins

January 15, 2026

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size