Tyson Fury felt “no fear” when he fought Oleksandr Usyk compared to his trilogy of bouts with Deontay Wilder, ahead of his rematch with the Ukrainian live on DAZN.
The Briton will face off with his rival for the second time atop a stacked Riyadh Season card on December 21, as he looks to avenge a split decision loss back in May.
The defeat marked the first reverse of Fury’s glittering career, having previously come closest to losing his unbeaten record when he drew with Wilder in their first encounter.
Speaking ahead of the clash at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia later this year, however, Fury suggested he felt the American offered a greater threat than Usyk did.
“It’s a different animal, do you know what I mean?” he said. “I’ll speak brutally, because both men are good fighters, and I respect them.
“But when you’re in a ring with a prime Deontay Wilder, who [has a] 44-0 [record] with 43 knockouts, you know you’re in trouble at any given moment.
“Whether it is round one, round ten or round twelve with two seconds to go - one mistake, it’s game over. With Usyk, I don’t feel that much terror.
“There’s no fear there. After he hit me in round nine, how many times did he hit me clean after that, in that round? He caught me with quite a few [and it] didn’t do anything.
“If I would have had him in that position, I’d have knocked him out. If I’d have been in that position with Daniel Dubois, I’d have been knocked out cold.
“He’s a good boxer and he’s a heavyweight, he can punch hard. But there’s different levels to power. One man can switch you off like a TV, and one man can hit you and hurt you and wear you down.
”Fury will look to hand Usyk a first career loss of his own when the pair meet, as he seeks to take the WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight titles from the 37-year-old.
Former WBC champion Wilder meanwhile is looking to rebuild his status after back-to-back losses against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang in the past year.
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