ALMOST fitting it was that Kaiser Chiefs’ “I predict a riot!” blared over the speakers as unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk stood, hands aloft in salute halfway up the steps pumping his fist as he had the last laugh.
In a rematch that may well be decided by inches, the smallest of fine margins, it’s advantage to the Ukrainian with less than 48 hours before they do battle again.
These bumper fight week events – no matter how small – never start on time, such is the inevitability of organising so many important people crammed into the same space in a timely manner, without a hitch.
Twitchy security guards are always on hand, as are disgruntled photographers and rights holders arguing about someone ruining their shot or fans masquerading as VIP guests in their personal space. If you’re claustrophobic, this isn’t the scene for you.
Tuesday’s grand arrivals was predictably tame, Wednesday’s open workouts wacky in the freezing cold but this Thursday felt far more intimate, you could sense something was going to happen. Just not quite what.
Tyson Fury maintained the same stern stance he had with Claudia Trejos on the DAZN broadcast 24 hours earlier, for as long as he could.
“I’m going to dish out a whole lot of pain, put this f***er in the hurt locker. I’ve got nothing to say, besides a whole lot of pain, talking has been done. First fight I talked and joked, going to do some f***ing damage, go to work on this f***er.”
You get the point. He couldn’t sit still, often flickering between hostile and happy at a moment’s notice, though unable to stop himself smiling when former sparring partner David Allen was asked for his fight prediction on the top table.
The well-travelled Doncaster man, who boxes Johnny Fisher over ten rounds as part of the undercard, has sparred several rounds with both main event fighters – having flown out to Ukraine for the Usyk experience back in 2020.
Although he revealed Usyk knocked him unconscious and prompted a short-lived retirement, Allen favoured his compatriot and someone he knows far more intimately, despite sitting on the same side as the defending champion.
“Two best heavyweights of my generation, I’ve shared the ring with both many times and am a huge fan of both. I hold them in high regard, personally foresee a Fury win but these two are the greatest of my time, so fortunate to be here and witness it in person… hopefully it can be half as good as last time.”
The same happened again when rival promoter Eddie Hearn reflected on two occasions where he previously counted out Fury on away soil, first against Wladimir Klitschko and then Deontay Wilder. Now, he is reluctantly backing his fellow Brit to avenge defeat.
Fury was beaming with pride by this stage, though no-one could prepare themselves for the exhausting ending to this final press conference as they had closing remarks and were ushered front-and-centre for faceoffs.
Still like statues and intensely staring without breaking eye contact, they couldn’t be separated and the longer this went, the less willing external players from their respective teams or security staff, were to get involved.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman belatedly acted as peacemaker, seven minutes into this exchange, Fury aggressively nodded as the distance between them grew slightly. Yet still their standoff persisted, Sulaiman pleading with Usyk and then Fury’s personal security guard Brendan Lyons to no avail.
Eleven minutes after they left their seats, thankfully, the end was near. Fury hurling all sorts of abuse, Usyk unbothered and gamely goaded him back in response, before they disappeared in opposite directions. Almost there now.
