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Unified heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk is fully focused on his upcoming showdown with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on May 18. The highly-anticipated clash was rescheduled from February following a cut suffered by Fury, but Usyk remains confident that the fight will happen as planned.
While some members of Usyk's camp have expressed doubts about the bout, Usyk himself is unwavering in his belief that he will face Fury next month. "
No, I'm not thinking about this [the fight not happening]," Usyk stated. "I don't because I think the fight will [happen]. My focus is my training, my family, and my team. I've not used Instagram now. Now it's bad for me. It's a waste of time.
I read my books, I speak with my family... My focus is my camp. I don't read the news, I don't watch the world news, I'm only here. It's my preparation. My focus is only May 18, only Ring of Fire [the name of the show]."
Usyk also revealed that he recently spoke with fellow Ukrainian and former Fury opponent Wladimir Klitschko about the fight, but did not disclose the details of their conversation. He believes that Fury will approach their fight differently than his last bout with Francis Ngannou, where Fury narrowly escaped an upset.
"Tyson Fury will be different with my fight because it's my opinion Tyson Fury, when boxing with Francis Ngannou, maybe [he was thinking] it's a UFC guy, blah, blah, blah," Usyk said. "I win, it's an easy fight. It's my opinion. I don't know. Maybe it's true, maybe not, but I know that Tyson Fury will be different with me."
The 37-year-old southpaw, with a record of 21-0 (14 KOs), last fought in September, defeating Daniel Dubois. Usyk has previously expressed a desire for a homecoming world heavyweight title fight in Ukraine. Despite his preference for outboxing opponents rather than stopping them, Usyk's ultimate goal is victory. "If I can do a KO, I will, if I can do 12 rounds, I do 12 rounds. My goal is to win. How it will be, it's God's will.