Tyson Fury has claimed that victory over Oleksandr Usyk will seal his place at the greatest heavyweight of all-time.
Fury faces Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, the first time in history all four belts have been on the line.
Lennox Lewis was the last man to hold the undisputed heavyweight crown back in 1999 and WBC champion, Fury insists a win over the Ukrainian WBA ‘super’, WBO and IBF titlist, will see him surpass Lewis and every other champion that came before him.
“This win puts me at number one barring none,” the 35-year-old told DAZN.
“Beating Usyk now puts me number one status of all-time.
“All of them.
“Here’s the thing, we can say that, you can say that, everyone here will have an opinion.
“Opinions mean f*** all. It’s man’s opinion again. Doesn’t mean anything and that’s why I’m not that interested in being compared to other people.”
‘The Gypsy King’ has not fought since climbing off the canvas to claim a contentious victory over ex-UFC heavyweight champion and boxing debutant, Francis Ngannou in a non-title bout in October.
The Manchester man will make a fourth defence of his WBC crown on Saturday and despite having dethroned the likes of former champions Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder, Fury concedes that his latest assignment against the undefeated two-weight world champion is his toughest.
“I think he’s the best opponent I’ve ever faced,” he added.
“Because I’ve fought world heavyweight champions before, fought undefeated people before, I’ve fought Olympic gold medalists before, but I’ve never fought a two-weight world champion before.
“So I think that puts him at the top of it all.”
The pair were supposed to meet in February, however Fury suffered a cut in sparring just days before the original date.
Usyk fights for the first time since defending his unified heavyweight titles with a ninth round stoppage of Daniel Dubois last August.
The Ukrainian was given the benefit of the doubt from the referee after a contentious low blow, which Dubois’ team felt was a legal blow.
Fight week has already been marred with controversy, after John Fury, father of Tyson, head-butted a member of Usyk’s team as the respective teams clashed during a media event on Monday.
