It’s the biggest fight in a generation.
The first undisputed heavyweight boxing title fight in the four-belt era.
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will meet in boxing’s new home, Riyadh, as the Saudi Arabian takeover of pugilism at the highest, showbiziest level, continues.
And this time the Saudi money has talked again, as the two recognised heavyweight champions signed on the dotted line to create a super fight of the likes rarely seen since the 90s.
Both men are undefeated with multiple accomplishments in the ring, but victory in the desert on Saturday night will propel both into the realms of sporting immortality.
But at the end of the night, only one man can hold up one of the biggest prizes in sport.
Usyk on the verge of immortality
Usyk can already, justifiably call himself one of boxing’s greats.
The former undisputed cruiserweight champion that moved up in weight to dethrone and outclass a British boxing legend. Twice.
The figurehead and inspiration for a country at war.
He won his first world cruiserweight crown, the WBO title, in his 10th professional bout, in the backyard of Polish fighter Krzysztof Głowacki.
Five fights later, he had all four belts in the 90.7kg-limit division.
Such a rapid ascent was not a surprise.
As an amateur, Usyk won everything — European championships, world championships as well as the Olympic gold in 2012.
He did so moving through the weight divisions too, earning his first international medal as a middleweight (70kg) in 2006.
How the 191cm fighter boiled himself down to that weight, even as a 19-year-old, is remarkable, but it’s safe to say he’s not that size anymore.
The now 37-year-old now holds the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles — Usyk is only the third man to win cruiserweight and heavyweight world titles after Evander Holyfield and David Haye.
He has done so by beating three British boxers in his four career fights at heavyweight.
Against all three, Usyk faced a significant weight deficit: 17.5kg against Dereck Chisora, 9kg and 11kg against Anthony Joshua in their two fights, and 6kg against Daniel Dubois.
He is also significantly shorter than both Joshua and Dubois.
None of that ended up mattering.
Usyk is almost unmatched, but not invulnerable
In each fight Usyk has had at heavyweight, he used his superior footwork and box-craft to frustrate and bamboozle his opponent.
His skill was particularly on show against Joshua in London and their rematch in Jeddah.
Joshua was, and is no mug.
A fellow London 2012 gold medallist in the ring, Joshua prided himself on his boxing ability and ringcraft and backed himself under the old adage that a good big ‘un will always beat a good little ‘un.
It turns out, the little ‘un was just too good.
That’s not to say it was easy. Usyk won unanimous decisions in both fights but only by, at most, a handful of rounds.
And he was hurt by Joshua, particularly to the body.
That was a fate that befell him against Dubois too, with the champion controversially dropped by the upstart Brit by what was ruled to be a low blow.
Dubois supporters are still arguing about that even now.
He overcame adversity in his cruiserweight days too, with his battle against Marais Briedis in Riga back in 2018 “the most difficult 12 rounds I’ve ever had in my career”.
Briedis, the Latvian who Jai Opetaia faces for the second time in his career on the undercard of this event, was defeated by majority decision, two judges awarded Usyk the bout 115-113, with the other judge scoring it a 114-114 draw.
The fact is, he’s not invincible.
All up, Usyk has a professional record of 21-0 with 14KOs, only one of which has come in a heavyweight contest.
Fury one fight away from claiming greatness
Of all the heavyweight contests Usyk could take on, this one is without a doubt the toughest.
For one, Fury is a giant, officially listed at 206cm with a reach of 216cm.
Usyk, by way of comparison, is 191cm tall with 198cm reach — an enormous deficit.
Fury, 34-0-1, is another fighter who could justifiably claim greatness is one fight away, if not already a part of his CV.
Although currently the WBC champion, Fury has, at some stage, held all four major belts at heavyweight.
He won the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles by defeating Wladimir Klitschko in Germany in 2015.
After that the wheels fell off, with Fury falling into a pit of depression and recreational drug use before making a remarkable return to draw with then-WBC champion Deontay Wilder in 2018, the first part of their extraordinary trilogy.
How much that trilogy took out of either fighter is worth discussing, three hellacious and bloody wars that saw both men felled and forced them to reach deep into themselves just to survive.
Granted, Wilder barely broke a sweat in knocking over Robert Helenius inside a round with his sledgehammer of a right hand on his return fight, but was then impressively outboxed by New Zealander Joe Parker last time out.
Fury has had three wins since the last of their fights, but those came against a brow-beaten Chisora, an outclassed Dilion Whyte and via a questionable split decision victory over novice MMA star, Francis Ngannou.
Battle-weary Fury can still win
There is, as ever with Fury, a comedic cloud of chaos surrounding him and his entourage.
Whether it’s a reality TV show, a desire to compete in WWE, or his dad headbutting one of the Usyk camp at the arrivals earlier this week, it’s almost as if Fury the celeb makes more headlines than the fighter ever could.
But look past the circus that has surrounded Fury; there is a magnificent fighter who has battled as many demons outside the ring as in it.
Part of Fury’s woes appear to be down to a celebrity hangover of sorts from those epic encounters — think Bruce Wayne stagnating in his manor following the demise of his arch nemesis, the Joker.
Although with Fury perhaps a more fitting comparison is with Heath Ledger’s version of the caped crusader’s rival — a brilliantly flawed psychopath at first, only to emerge in the form of a twisted, Jared Leto-mockery of the original.
If Fury can make another metamorphosis into the Joaquin Phoenix-played ideal, then perhaps he can rediscover his best.
Because at his best, there is no doubt that he has the skills to beat Usyk.
Fury’s footwork, hand speed and evasiveness is up there with the skills of anyone in the top 10 pound-for-pound list.
If that’s not working, his aggression and, frankly, street-fighting ability has the potential to literally smother the life out of the much smaller man.
Fury is not beneath clinching, roughing Usyk up and, as we saw against Dubois and Joshua, heavy punches to the body can really cause Usyk issues — and Fury has extraordinary power in his fists, just ask Wilder.
Whoever wins, it will be a historic moment for the heavyweight division.
The winner will go down as one of the all time greats.
The loser? They might have to wait for the rematch.
Sports content to make you think… or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.
