Oleksandr Usyk sends a message to Tyson Fury with official ‘Ring of Fire’ fight poster ahead of highly anticipated Feb 17 clash

The undisputed heavyweight champion of professional boxing will be crowned on February 17 in Riyadh as unified champion Oleksandr Usyk takes on WBC champion Tyson Fury. The duo is undefeated in their professional boxing career with both coming from controversial victories in their recent bouts.

Fury recently headlined ‘Battle of the Baddest’ with former UFC champion Tyson Fury and won via a controversial split decision. On the other hand, Usyk’s latest fight was a TKO over Daniel Dubois in a fight that saw Dubois land a body shot that the referee inadvertently misjudged as a low blow.

Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury official ‘Ring of Fire’ fight poster revealed

Riyadh Season recently revealed the official poster for the highly anticipated bout headlined by Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, billed as the ‘Ring of Fire’. The poster had both fighters in an American Wild West Cowboy attire. Fans applauded the artwork of the poster which was a blend of classic due in Cowboy duels and the sweet science of boxing.

The stakes are very high for the fight as Usyk will be putting his WBA, WBO, and IBF titles on the line with Fury putting his WBC belt on the line. There has never been an undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. It needs to be noted that Usyk was the undisputed champion at cruiserweight before he moved up in weight and took 3 belts from Anthony Joshua.

The poster of ‘Ring of Fire’ is an apt symbolization of the fighting spirit of the two boxers who are renowned for their toughness. Fury is one of the most durable fighters in the division and has even survived brutal power punches from Francis Ngannou and Deontay Wilder. Usyk has also shown his durability in his two fights with Anthony Joshua.

The poster also has an impressive tagline, ‘The undisputed heavyweight championship of the world’, which is a nice tagline for a fight of this magnitude. Nonetheless, the fight has the potential to change the landscape of the division as Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou lock horns inside the ring in March.

Oleksandr Usyk sends a message to Tyson Fury on IG

Recently, the Unified heavyweight champion sent a stern message to WBC champion Tyson Fury through his Instagram story. “THE UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD. SEE YOU SOON @TYSONFURY”, remarked Usyk on the poster of ‘Ring of Fire’ on his Instagram story.

The move was a bold one on the part of Usyk who directly declared that he would emerge the victor against Fury. It can also be considered as a psychological tactic on the part of Usyk as the stakes are high with each boxer trying to get every advantage possible. This has been a common tactic used by fighters nowadays as they mix sportsmanship with showmanship.

Usyk is relatively a calm and composed fighter and does not indulge in trash talks which is the forte of Tyson Fury. The move by Oleksandr Usyk thus signifies the importance that Usyk is putting into the fight as the holder of three of the four major heavyweight belts. As a former cruiserweight fighter, Usyk is an undersized heavyweight against Fury.

Fury is one of the biggest heavyweight fighters ever and he uses it to his full advantage during his fights. Nobody has been able to deal with the physicality of Fury except for the ‘Predator’ Francis Ngannou. Oleksandr Usyk’s path to victory undoubtedly will be to negate the physicality of Tyson Fury with technical prowess.

Do you think Tyson Fury will become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in the four-belt era? Leave your prediction below!