Oleksandr Usyk has arrived in Saudi Arabia for that humungous showdown with Tyson Fury next weekend – accompanied by an adorable good luck charm from his daughter.
The Ukranian genius (21-0) goes into the biggest fight of his life next Saturday night when he takes on man mountain Fury (34-0-1) in a fight which should deliver the sport’s first undisputed heavyweight champion since a certain Lennox Lewis way back in 1999.
Usyk will give up more than 50lbs in weight and a significant height advantage too as he bids to hand the 6ft 9ins Fury the first defeat of his own storied pro career.
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Oleksandr will not just have brilliant boxing skills on his side at the Kingdom Arena, he’ll also have the adorable good luck charm given to him by his daughter.
If you look at the pictures of Usyk arriving in Saudi, and any other recent shots of the IBF, WBA, WBO and Ring magazine champion, you’ll notice something very significant by his side or in his arms – a cuddly Eeyore toy from the Winnie The Pooh storybook.
Why does Usyk carry Eeyore cuddly toy?
Usyk has had it with him a while now, ever since he left war-torn Ukraine for his rematch vs Anthony Joshua in Saudi in 2022. It was then that he spoke about it to media.
“It’s my daughter’s. She gave it to me to be my talisman. We bought it when we were all together in Disneyland Paris. When we left Ukraine together but our roads separated in Europe, my daughter gave this toy to me and said, ‘This needs to be right next to you’. It sleeps with me, is always close to and she told me to take it to my media event. I am not sure about it being in my corner, she [the toy] is a lady so she might get scared, but she will definitely be in my dressing room.”
There is growing confidence behind Usyk’s bid to become undisputed heavyweight champion having already unified the belts at cruiserweight. A few months ago he was a significant underdog, but Fury’s disappointing display vs boxing novice Francis Ngannou means it is now pretty much a pick em fight.
When is Fury vs Usyk?
The big fight takes place Saturday May 18 in Riyadh. Ring walks for the main event are expected to be at around 11pm UK time (6pm Eastern Standard Time in the US or 3pm PST).
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