Tyson Fury lauds Oleksandr Usyk as "the best opponent" he's ever faced, believes beating 'The Cat' cements him as heavyweight GOAT

Tyson Fury recently hailed Oleksandr Usyk as the best opponent he has ever faced. The long-awaited heavyweight title unification fight between the pair will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this Saturday and has been billed as the 'Ring of Fire'.

'The Gypsy King' has defeated notable heavyweights, including Wladimir Klitschko, Deontay Wilder, and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

In a recent interview with DAZN, Fury discussed his upcoming fight with Usyk and had nothing but praise for the Ukrainian:

''I think he’s the best opponent I’ve ever faced, because I’ve fought world heavyweight champions before or undefeated people before, I’ve fought Olympic gold medalists before, but I’ve never fought a two-weight world champion before. So I think that puts him at the top of it all.''

Fury believes defeating Usyk will be beneficial to his career. In addition to becoming the undisputed champion, Fury thinks a victory on May 18 will solidify his status as the greatest heavyweight of all time:

“I think this win puts me at number one, barring none. Beating Usyk now puts me number one status of all time.''

Check out Tyson Fury's comments below (7:51):

The current WBC heavyweight champion enters the bout with a split-decision victory over Ngannou. Meanwhile, in his last boxing appearance, Usyk beat Daniel Dubois via TKO in the ninth round.

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Tyson Fury explains challenging journey he took to become heavyweight boxing champion

Tyson Fury overcame several champions during his career and had a challenging journey to become the lineal boxing heavyweight champion. His most notable wins include Derek Chisora (thrice), Dillian Whyte, Wladimir Klitschko, and Deontay Wilder (twice).

'The Gypsy King' described his rise to fame in a recent interview with Sky Sports. Fury said that he forged his own path and it was very different from some of his opponents' journeys:

"It's not been an easy rollercoaster. I wasn't an Olympic gold medalist. I wasn't the golden boy. I've come up the hard way. English, British, Commonwealth, European. Every Intercontinental title there is. Every world title there is, twice. Ring magazine belt. Everything I've done has been the hard way. There was no railroad tracks for me to follow, I've done it off my own back." [H/T Sky Sports]