Fully clothed Fury four stone heavier than Usyk

A fully clothed Tyson Fury weighed in at a career-heavy 20st 1lb for Saturday’s heavyweight world title fight against champion Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine’s Usyk will defend his WBA (Super), WBC and WBO titles against two-time champion Fury at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena.

Dressed in a leather jacket, white trousers and a baseball cap – which he kept on when he stepped on the scales – Fury weighed in four stone heavier than his opponent.

He cut a more relaxed figure than he has throughout the week, even shaking hands with Usyk’s team.

But the 36-year-old Briton seemed eager to get Friday’s weigh-in over and looked away after just seven seconds during their final face-off. They had shared an 11-minute face-off a day earlier.

The Morecambe fighter walked off without giving an on-camera interview.

Usyk, asked how he was feeling, simply replied: “Nothing.”

The 37-year-old edged a split decision win for the undisputed title in May, inflicting a first career loss on Fury.

He too was fully dressed in a tracksuit as he tipped the scales, making it difficult to determine the boxers’ conditioning and shape, as he weighed in at 16st 1lb, five pounds lighter than for the first fight.

“You can analyse it anyway you like but tomorrow night you’re going to find out who is the best,” Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, said.

“You know both of them will come to fight. We are going to see something extra, extra special.”

Teams locked in ‘beardgate’ & officials dispute

Away from the weigh-in, the fighters’ teams are in a dispute over a replacement official and the length of Fury’s beard.

Fury has grown a bristly beard, which he says provides added strength. Boxing rules usually require facial hair to be of a certain length. Stubble, for example, can further damage a cut.

At a rules meeting on Friday, Fury’s beard was cleared. Usyk’s team, however, are contesting this.

Meanwhile, Fernando Barbosa was set to be one of the three judges on Saturday but he has not travelled to Riyadh because of illness.

Steve Weisfeld and Ignacio Robles have been flown in to replace Barbosa, but the two fighters’ teams are split on which judge should be used.

Warren has suggested they should toss a coin to decide.

Fury & Usyk set for another lucrative pay day

Friday is not a working day in Saudi and as such the weigh-in – held at a garden-themed theme park – was slightly better attended than other fight week events.

The distant screams from a rollercoaster were drowned out by some travelling British fans chanting “there’s only one Tyson Fury”.

They were joined by a couple of hundred Saudis, most of whom happened to be visiting the theme park. Blockbuster boxing shows in the Kingdom have been criticised for their low attendance. While it takes time to cultivate new boxing fans, local interest in this bout does not appear to be growing at the quickest of rates.

Usyk v Fury could sell out any stadium in the United Kingdom, but the fighters benefit from fighting in the Middle East because of the investment of the energy-rich Saudi organisers.

Although exact purses have not been revealed, the pair – according to unconfirmed reports – will share prize money of £150m, with the split undisclosed.

Fury reportedly took home as much as £85m for the first fight, significantly higher than Usyk’s purse of £35m.