British boxing legend Lennox Lewis has insisted that Tyson Fury cannot be considered the greatest of all-time until he fights Anthony Joshua.
After months of build-up, Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will finally compete for the undisputed heavyweight title in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
The Gypsy King brings his WBC belt to the table and with it, one of the most lucrative careers of the modern era, as he prepares to take on his Ukrainian counter-part.
Fury has long been regarded as one of Britain’s best ever boxers but there have been suggestions that he could be entering the debate for greatest boxer of all time.
But, would he become the GOAT after beating Usyk? Or does Fury still need to face-off against long-term rival Anthony Joshua to claim that title?
+6
Tyson Fury (left) and Oleksandr Usyk (right) will compete for the undisputed heavyweight title
+6
One boxing legend claimed that Fury cannot be the GOAT until he fights Anthony Joshua
+6
Lennox Lewis (right) offered his take on the bout during an exclusive interview with Mail Sport
Interestingly, Saturday’s bout is boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight championship fight since Lennox Lewis took on Evander Holyfield in 1999.
Fellow Brit Lewis won the bout and, in turn, claimed the WBC, WBA, IBF and was thus the last man to hold all available titles. Back then the WBO was not regarded as a major title.
Fury and Usyk now have the chance to follow in Lewis’ footsteps and the former champion has admitted that both are ‘worthy’ of the undisputed title.
Speaking exclusively to Mail Sport, Lewis said: ‘Yes they are. They’re definitely worthy because they’ve boxed for it.
‘Their records show they’ve worked hard in their life and their careers to become undisputed, so I’m going to be happy for the winner’.
Fury will enter the ring nearly seven months after his last bout, where he overcame adversity to beat boxing novice Francis Ngannou after 10 rounds of action.
Ahead of the bout, Lewis has warned Fury that he should not underestimate the Ukrainian, as he seemingly did for his fight with former UFC champion Ngannou.
Lewis said: ‘This fight is not going to be an easy fight for Tyson Fury.
Fury (left) and Usyk (right) will finally face-off inside the boxing ring in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
+6
Fury has previously claimed that by beating Usyk, he would become the GOAT in boxing
‘He’s up against an undisputed champion. A winner. Usyk is going to try and use up every advantage he can to try and win this fight’.
In the build-up to the bout, Fury has suggested that – if he wins – he will surpass all of those before him and become the greatest boxer of all-time.
However Lewis has challenged that claim and insisted that Fury must fight British rival Anthony Joshua in order to earn that title.
When asked if Fury would become the GOAT by beating Usyk, Lewis said: ‘No, there’s more to be done.
+6
Lewis warned that the Gypsy King should not underestimate his Ukrainian counter-part
‘People will be saying: ‘Oh, he didn’t fight AJ!’. So, he still has to fight AJ. I think that’s the fight the British public are going to love and that they will want.’
Fury and Joshua have long-been rumoured to share the ring however a bout is yet to materialise.
However, after Joshua tipped Usyk to shock the Gypsy King in their bout on Saturday night, there could be even more reason for the two of them to face off.
Reflecting on how he envisions a bout between the two British stars going, Lewis said: ‘I think it’d be a good fight. They both have good skills.
+6
Lewis heaped praise on Joshua’s right-hand ahead of a potential bout with his British rival
‘Everybody’s going to be looking at AJ’s right hand and whether he can hit Tyson Fury’.
Though Lewis is preparing for his title – as the latest undisputed heavyweight champion – to be taken, the veteran insists he’s not fazed by the situation.
He said: ‘It was my goal to become the undisputed champion. It’s a record that I got but it’s a record that is there to be broken.
‘It’s for somebody else to come and break that record and hold it for 25 years, like I did’.
