Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk engage in over TEN-MINUTE stardown at final press conference ahead of heavyweight rematch –  as the Gypsy King promises ‘f****** damage’ on Saturday

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk engaged in a tense over ten-minute staredown at the final press conference ahead of their blockbuster heavyweight rematch. 

With their highly-anticipated rematch now just two days away, both fighters faced questions in front of the assembled media in attendance.

Fury made his way to the stage first, dressed in an extravagant black and white suit topped by a black fedora.

Not to be outdone, Usyk then joined him on the stage accompanied by a live musical performance complete with backing choir and brass section.

Asked his thoughts on the rematch Fury kept his response uncharacteristically brief: ‘I’m gonna dish out a whole lot of pain. 

‘I’m gonna put this f***** in the hurt locker for sure.

He continued: ‘I got nothing to say, apart from, there’s going to be a whole lot of hurt and pain in this fight you watch. 

‘That’s all I got to say. Talking’s been done. You know, the first fight I talked, I joked, through all my career. 

‘This time I’m serious. I’m going to do some f****** damage here on Saturday night.  Watch me go to work on this f*****.’

Matchroom Boxing chief Eddie Hearn insisted Fury has what it takes to emerge victorious in the rematch.

‘The one thing I’ll say, people ask me all the time who’s going to win this fight,’ Hearn said. 

‘Oleksandr Usyk is an incredible fighter, and it will take something extraordinary to beat him on Saturday night, but I know we’ve had our differences, Tyson Fury is capable of extraordinary things. 

‘I think his victory against Wladimir Klitschko in Germany. I watched that in a hotel on a laptop in America, I thought he had absolutely no chance. He won every single round.   

‘When he fought Deontay Wilder in America, I thought he had absolutely no chance. He was robbed in the first fight. He smashed him to pieces in the second fight. 

‘Two generational, great heavyweights, two credits to the sport. May God bless you both on Saturday night. But most of all, can’t believe I’m saying it. May Tyson fury be victorious on Saturday night for Britain.’

As the event came to close the fighters were squared off for the final time before they step into the ring on Saturday.

Despite the efforts of World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman, the pair remained head-to-head for over ten minutes, with Fury becoming increasingly animated as it continued.

When the pair first met inside the ring back in May, Usyk handed Fury his first career defeat as a professional and in doing so claimed the undisputed heavyweight title.

After a tense opening, Fury enjoyed success during the middle rounds on that night before the Ukrainian rallied as the fight wore on.

In the ninth round Usyk overwhelmed his larger opponent, peppering Fury with a flurry of answered strikes that prompted the referee to call a standing eight count.

Once again the Gypsy King demonstrated his uncanny ability to rally back from adversity by working his way back into the fight in the closing rounds but it ultimately was not enough and Usyk was ruled the winner on two of the three judges’ scorecards.

HOW TO WATCH: Register and watch Usyk vs. Fury 2 on DAZN here