Tyson Fury gives credit to Oleksandr Usyk's abilities and says he won't underestimate the Ukranian - "He's beat Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois"

Heavyweight lineal champion Tyson Fury will take on unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in a bid to become the undisputed champion. The two will face off on May 18, 2024, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fury spoke to his promoter's YouTube channel in an interview and discussed Usyk's strengths. He praised him as a formidable opponent and said:

"Oleksandr Usyk's a real bad man and to underestimate Usyk you'd be a mug. So I'm training hard for him, I'm doing everything I can. I respect his career as well - Olympic champion, undisputed cruiserweight champion, he is unified heavyweight champion. You have to respect that. I'm not fighting some guy who's had 14 and won 11, you know. I'm fighting the real deal. I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Fury also mentioned Usyk's wins against notable heavyweights and former champions like Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. Usyk won the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles from Joshua and then defended them in a rematch. He went on to add:

"He's a southpaw, he's got good footwork, good boxing ability, technically sound. He's proved he can mix it with the big heavyweights because he's beat Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, pretty big heavyweights. I'm messing with an elite fighter who's got more than boxing ability, more than that he's stubborn and he wants to win like I did. We both have talent, we both have good attributes and bad attributes. It will come down to who wants it most on the night."

Check out Tyson Fury's full comments in his interview below (9:11):

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Anthony Joshua picks Oleksandr Usyk to win against Tyson Fury

Oleksandr Usyk's former opponent Anthony Joshua backed him to win against Tyson Fury on May 18.

Usyk is responsible for two of the three losses on Joshua's professional record. However, Joshua offered an unbiased opinion regarding the matchup and backed Usyk to get the better of Fury.

In an interview with talkSPORT, Joshua said:

"Well, look, I've fought Oleksandr Usyk so I can go only speak on what I have experienced from him. Phenomenal fighter, does everything to a tee and I would say he is going to do a really good job. I have never fought Tyson Fury so I can't really speak on how he will perform or what it is like to face him so only speaking on what I know I would have to say Oleksandr Usyk will be victorious." [h/t talkSPORT]

Both Usyk and Fury are unbeaten in their careers and will look to inflict the first loss on their opponent.