TYSON FURY’S 15-pint Christmas Day binge is cancelled so he can become our undisputed heavyweight king.
The 35-year-old WBC champ was supposed to meet WBA, IBF and WBO boss Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia on December 23 – perfectly timed for a super-session 24 hours later.
GettyTyson Fury has had to cancel his plans to get drunk on Christmas day[/caption]
GettyFury will face Oleksandr Usyk on February 17[/caption]
But the lager-than-life character suffered bumps and bruises in a points win over Francis Ngannou on October 28 so the iconic four-belt decider was pushed back to February 17 and bundled the Gypsy King onto the wagon – thankfully he isn’t bitter.
“It wasn’t my ideal date,” he grinned with none of the purple welts MMA giant left him with.
“I wanted the 23rd because then I could have had a good Christmas and now I am going to have a s*** Christmas.
“I can’t go and get 4st heavier now, like I would like to.
“This date will keep me in shape and give me something to think about but it’s only a few weeks after so not too bad.
“I will still have a proper Christmas day with the family, it’s not that serious that I have to cancel Christmas is it?
“Me and Joe Parker usually go to the boozer next door, while the dinner is getting made, and have 15 pints.
“But this time he can do it and I can’t because he will be celebrating his win on the 23rd and I will still be in camp.”
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GettyThe initial date for the bout was postponed after Fury was roughed up by Francis Ngannou[/caption]
Just as Fury is in the middle of a 20-minute national newspaper huddle, Usyk strolls passed and the showman cannot help throw verbals at him.
Thankfully they’re only his favourite ‘sausage and corey’ barbs, the latter being Traveller slang for a penis.
And the spiteful x-rated stuff he has said about him in the past is pleasantly missing from his brief outurst and the end of his chat with us.
In a far better mood than we expected him, Fury said: “As a fighter he’s done everything that can be done, so you have to respect him.
“He’s come from Ukraine, I don’t from what sort of background but probably a poor one.
“He’s done fantastic, just like Wilder, Joshua, Parker, myself. We’ve all done fantastic, we are all multimillionaires who have changed our stars for the better.
“You have to respect him and admire him. I don’t really know him as a man because I’ve never been out with him for a beer or socialised.
“But from what I’ve seen he’s a God-fearing family man.”
PAFury was full of praise for his competitor Usyk[/caption]
Sadly, as is so often the case with Fury, he switched up his stance once on the stage and slung a load of childish insults, especially the fact Usyk was sporting an earring.
In a trademark Jekyll-to-Hyde switch, he screamed: “I am going to bust him, ugly little man, sausage.
“He is fighting the best British man there has ever been.
“He is like a little p**** with an earring.
“I am going to knock that sausage out cold.
“He can never beat me. If he beats me in his dreams he better wake up and apologise.”
When Usyk coolly asked if his tirade was over, he barked: “I came here to pick a fight, not play games.
“I did not get dressed up for nothing.
“You little man, you little man.
ReutersFury reverted back to his antagonising self during the press conference[/caption]
But 6ft 3in Usyk kept his counsel and went deep back into the history books to explain why he will step up from undisputed cruiserweight glory and complete the same legendary feat at heavyweight.
The ice-cool 36-year-old said: “I don’t want to speak. I do my speaking in the ring.
“I am a little man,” he grinned from under his moustache. “But I’m a big champion.
“I want to tell one story which looks similar to Tyson and me. About David And Goliath.
“When the Lord gives me Tyson in my hands, I will make my jump.”
In another late plot twist, Rocky legend Sylvestre Stallone emerged from the rehearsal rooms and stood between the pair of real-life heavyweight champions.
And when they came nose-to-nose, the dignified script went up in shreds as they butted like wild stags desperately trying to hold their ground and invade deeper territory.
The devout pair argued which one would have the power of god behind them.
Fury screamed at the top of his voice that the Lord would never deliver him to Usyk.
But the Orthodox Christian – who regularly addresses the media caressing his rosary beads – simply said: “Nothing is impossible with the Lord.”
ReutersThe pair butted heads after the feisty exchange[/caption]