After inflicting the first defeat of Tyson Fury’s career in a thriller in Saudi Arabia, foe Oleksandr Usyk has given his verdict on his rival’s attributes.

Oleksandr Usyk used a bizarre analogy as he compared the strengths of rivals Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua as he even labelled his most recent opponent a ‘greedy belly’. The Ukrainian colossus defeated ‘The Gypsy King’ in an era-defining contest in May as he became the first unified world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.

In a captivating contest in Riyadh, the warring pair were eventually separated by a split points decision as ‘The Cat’ prevailed after the bout went the distance. The damage appeared to be done to Fury’s unblemished professional record in Round 9 with the Brit left flailling on the ropes after his foe landed a series of brutal jabs.

From there, the eventual loser was saved by the bell and limped to the final round before the judges called the contest in favour of Usyk. After earning the WBC belt on the night, he became only the second fighter this century to unify the belt in the weight division and the first in the four-belt era.

Now, the triumphant fighter has spoken on the differences between Fury when compared with Joshua – who he has beaten on two occasions. Speaking on Three Knockdown Rule, Usyk gave a series of left field takes on the matter, starting:”Anthony Joshua has classy boxing. Greedy Belly, my friend Tyson Fury.

“It’s like sparkling water, when you open it without shaking it’s good. If you shake it, it [blows]. Sparkling water is Tyson Fury and still water is Anthony Joshua, he continued, before talking up Fury’s physical might, continuing: “Tyson’s arms are like two metres, like a rope.”

When it comes to his most formidable opponent, however, Usyk picked neither, adding: “I would say toughest fight, yes, but I think biggest punch, no. Derek Chisora, very tough guy. With Derek, I don’t remember which hand if it was left or fight but I would block it and it would be like a baseball bat. It was very dangerous.”

“I respect Fury because he’s a great fighter, great man, very smart,” he went on the clarify, with his respect for the Manchester-born superstar palpable. “What Tyson does, ‘Blah, blah, blah.’ A lot of people say he’s a clown. It’s playing. Not me, but maybe a different opponent who doesn’t have tunnel vision.”

It will not be long before Usyk and Fury do battle once again in the ring, with a festive contest currently slated for December 21. With the latter looking to avenge the first loss of his career, he will be eager to prove a point after feeling he should have been handed victory in Saudi Arabia first time out.

“I believe I won that fight,” he asserted to DAZN in May. “And I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them. I believe we both put on a good fight – best we could do. And, you know, his country is at war. People are siding with the country at war. Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion.”

Saudi Arabian official, Turki Alalshikh, took to Twitter/ X previously to update fans on the upcoming rematch, saying: “The rematch between the Undisputed Champion Oleksandr Usyk and the Champion Tyson Fury is now scheduled on the 21 of December 2024 during Riyadh Season.”