Beloved action film star Sylvester Stallone was in attendance for the official announcement of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk.
A few short weeks removed from his close call against Francis Ngannou, ‘The Gypsy King’ returned to Saudi Arabia for a press event announcing his February 17 title unification clash with reigning WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO world champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Stepping on stage to get a close-up look at the fighters’ first face-off was ‘Rocky’ himself, Sylvester Stallone.
Sylvester Stallone in the house! 😅#RingofFire | #FuryUsyk | Feb 17 pic.twitter.com/bKoxlaGFdx
— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) November 16, 2023
Things got quite heated when Fury, the current WBC heavyweight champion, stepped in front of Usky. ‘The Gypsy King’ got right in the Ukrainian’s face, touching foreheads before the pair had to be separated by security team members.
‼️ Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk AGGRESSIVE FIRST FACE-OFF as Fury sticks his head on Usyk ahead of their undisputed fight on Feb 17th…
[🎥 @Queensberry] pic.twitter.com/3K4WV2K9nD
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) November 16, 2023
Tyson Fury Frustrated With Usyk’s Inability to Sell a Fight
The press event saw Tyson Fury regularly taking digs at Usyk, but most of his insults were left unreturned which frustrated Fury to no end.
“It’s not an exchange when I shout something to somebody, and they don’t say anything. What do you call that? Probably an onslaught,” Fury said about his next opponent. “There was no return fire. I’ll tell you what it’s like. Me on my own at the press conference. I just did a round table with him.
“How are you going to get banter up with a man who doesn’t speak English? He understands only 10% of what I say. “He has to translate backward and forwards. It’s pointless, but it’s not a talking competition, is it? Obviously, we’re not here to talk. Maybe we should just stay quiet and say nothing.”
Tyson Fury goes into the matchup with an undefeated record of 34-0-1. His singular draw came in his first meeting with heavyweight knockout artist Deontay Wilder in 2018. Fury scored back-to-back knockouts against Wilder in their second and third meetings between 2020 and 2021.
Oleksandr Usyk also enters the bout undefeated, earning 21-straight victories with 14 coming by way of knockout. After earning decision victories over Anthony Joshua in sequential meetings, Usyk landed a ninth-round KO against Daniel Dubois in August.
Watch the full press event below:
