Tyson Fury is being tipped to come in at his lowest weight in almost a decade ahead of his highly anticipated fight against Oleksandr Usyk this weekend.
After trying to book the bout for what feels like an eternity, Fury is finally set to put his WBC belt up against the Ukrainian’s unified WBO, WBA and IBF titles to decide the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and Usyk‘s mind games have not turned to taking aim at ‘The Gyspy King’s weight loss.
The 35-year-old boxer revealed his trimmed-down physique this week as he walked out on stage in the event village in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, with a notably flatter stomach, less weight in the face and a leaner build overall.
Visible mass has been shifted, that much is clear, and his challenger was quick to react when the first glimpse of his fight weight was revealed, with many fans now expecting Tyson to turn up at his lightest weight in nine years.
Oleksandr Usyk’s reaction to seeing Tyson Fury for the first time on fight week: “He’s skinny.”
Tyson Fury shows off his weight loss ahead of the title fight against Usyk this weekend.
As can be heard on the live DAZN broadcast, the 37-year-old unified fighter can be heard saying that he’s decreased his size “because he’s nervous; when you’re nervous, you lose weight or gain it as [we’ve seen] in the past”.
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The Wythenshawe-born boxer came in at his lowest-ever weight of 245.5lbs (111kg) against Vinny Maddalone back in July 2012 – quite the contrast when compared to his most recent matches against Chisora and Whyte (around 260lbs) and when he clocked in at 277.7lbs for the Ngannou fight.
While it’s unlikely he’ll have been able to strip enough to reach his leanest professional fight weight seen over a decade ago, he did come in manager 247lbs (112kg) when he became the heavyweight champion of the world against Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
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Usyk went on to dub him “skinny belly” to the media in reference to his “greedy” comments made earlier this year regarding arguments over the fight purse, which is one of the main reasons it’s taken so long to get the fight booked, but did watch him intensely during his public workout on Wednesday.
𝗨𝗦𝗬𝗞 𝗢𝗕𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗨𝗥𝗬
Unified Heavyweight champion @usykaa looks on & observes @Tyson_Fury during his public workout
Tyson obviously brushed off the suggestion that he’s dropped too much weight, quipping, “Skinny? I’m 19 stone” and, as father John Fury has been hyping up for the last month or so, he believes fight fans are about to see the “best Tyson yet”.
Although many might have assumed that size was going to be a key thing that might give the Manc fighter the edge over Usyk, this drop in weight does suggest that his team are going for a different.
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The hope, presumably, is that a leaner, more agile Tyson might see him move quicker and simply try to directly outbox his opponent, but it remains to be seen how he’ll approach the bout. We’ll only get a clearer idea when the two heavyweights arrive at the weigh-in around 7pm on Friday.
Fury vs Usyk finally go toe-to-toe this Saturday night, though the actual fight isn’t due to start until the early hours of Sunday morning – who are you backing and will the weight drop prove to be a masterstroke or a mistake?
Tyson Fury in a southpaw stance on the pads at today’s public workout after Oleksandr Usyk did his workout in orthodox…
Luke Littler is challenging amateurs to beat him at darts as part of a live Netflix event
Danny Jones
In an unprecedented new sports event in the world of streaming, North West sports star Luke Little is offering people the chance to try and win a game of darts against him live on Netflix.
Best of all, he and the entertainment platform have put up a huge grand prize for anyone who can beat the Warrington wonder.
So, for any of you who fancy yourselves as Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor reincarnated when stepping up to the oche down at the local, or if you’re simply bold enough to throw your name in the hat, you’ll want to pay attention for this one…
Announcing the special one-off sporting event on Netflix later this year, Luke Littler has issued the call-out to see if anyone can best him in a game of 501 in front of millions watching at home.
Quite literally the opportunity of a lifetime for fans of the arrows, this exclusive livestream is like nothing that the media giants have done before.
Having dipped their toes into the likes of live boxing fights over the past few years, they’ve definitely got a few live events under their belt, but this exciting and crucially interactive series of matches feels like something genuinely new for Netflix.
Most notably of all, using the name of the popular darts game played not only live on telly at competitions throughout the year but also at countless pubs across the country to set the prize fee, a prospective winner could potentially win £501k this autumn.
Imagine: half a million pounds for one (admittedly very tough) game of darts.
The only major caveat aside from, you know, him being an absolute phenom and already a serial winner is he also happens to be in the form of his life – his words and virtually everyone else’s.
"This is the best version of myself… I'm playing SO WELL!"
Luke Littler listens to some of the records he's broken in his ridiculous World Matchplay campaign 🤯 pic.twitter.com/EVQSrHxSHf
Having smashed Gerwyn Price to defend his World Matchplay Darts title on Sunday evening, cruising to an 18-9 victory with so many 100+ visits and finishes that he broke the tournament’s record average, which has stood since 2010, anyone who does come up against him is currently praying for a miracle.
Price himself told Sky Sports that the youngster’s performance looked ‘effortless’, quipping, “I hope there’s nobody else like him coming through!”
Still only 19, the local lad is the toughest of tasks for even the best on the pro circuit, but if you still somehow fancy your chances, heats will be taking place in Manchester and London, where the top 20 players will get their shot at the man himself on Friday, 30 October.
You can find out all the important information and sign up right HERE.
For now, why not see just how good Littler is playing at the minute and watch back his highlights from a record-breaking final this weekend?
Not that he’s ever truly cooled off, but he really is on fire at the minute.
Manchester City auctioning off exclusive ‘artefacts’ from Pep Guardiola’s office
Danny Jones
Manchester City are set to auction off a limited number of used and/or signed items previously owned by legendary football manager Pep Guardiola himself.
The iconic Catalan head coach may have now left the club, but it’s fair to say that supporters are still grieving the bittersweet goodbye – and if you’re one of them, then this might be a good way of clinging on to him and the memories.
Teaming up with MatchWornShirt, an authentic collectables company that deals in memorabilia used by the sporting stars themselves, fans will soon be able to own a ‘piece of Pep’ if they so wish as part of this very special merchandise dump.
So, if you’re a collector of signed or match-worn merch, here’s a taster of what’s up for grabs:
Several items from @PepTeam's office are up for auction 🤝
Yes, should they be willing to put in the winning bid, Blues can genuinely own some of Guardiola‘s office knick-nacks, a tactics board and notes scribed on by the man himself, as well as his actual chair and even his whistle.
Does that count as kissing him? That’s not for us to say…
There is more standard fare, of course, such as worn training kits, photo frames, programmes and other printed media – almost all of which are signed by the 55-year-old.
On the other hand, if you’re so inclined to go for the super rare stuff, you can even buy his desk lamp and go-to coffee cups; whatever floats your boat.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss left Etihad Stadium this summer after 10 years as a Cityzen – with the club even releasing a dedicated ‘Decade Collection’ in his honour – and it now looks as though he could be set for his next job.
His former assistant turned replacement and ex-U23s/Elite Development Squad (EDS), Enzo Maresca, is now in place and making his first impressions on the City squad; safe to say it’ll take some work to leave the same lasting legacy as his mentor.
As for the auction, the club have labelled these exclusive trinkets as “artefacts”, promising that you won’t get many other opportunities, if any, to claim this kind of ‘KeePepsake’.
Meanwhile, in other MCFC news, the City Football Group (CFG) are taking steps to ensure local fans have easier access to matchday tickets with a new postcode lottery, of sorts.
Danny Jones -
16th May 2024 
