TYSON FURY insists he’s only fighting Oleksandr Usyk for the money – not the opportunity to prove himself as the best heavyweight of his era.
The Wythenshawe warrior faces the slick southpaw for all the heavyweight marbles in a historic Saudi showdown a fortnight on Saturday.
Fury, 35, will become the division’s first undisputed champion in over 25 years should he reclaim the WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO and Ring titles in the Riyadh rumble.
But The Gypsy King cares more about the career-high payday he’ll bank for the desert dust-up than permanently writing his name into the history books.
He told DAZN “This is no more important than any of the other fights I’ve had before. To me anyway.
“To him, it might mean something much more special, I don’t know. I’ve never spoke to him about it.
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“I’m just telling you the truth. The truth is, it’s exciting to me and attractive because of the amount of money I’m getting paid.
“Not because of the belts that’s on the line.”
Fury has won so many belts over the years that he’s become numb to having them wrapped around him.
He said: “If you ever get time to come to Morecambe when you’re passing, nip into my front room, I’ll show you 26, 27 belts that don’t see the daylight.
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“When you’re a young person and you haven’t won anything and you win a Central Area title, or an English title, or an Irish title, it’s everything to you. Wow.
“But I’m 35-years-old with an army of children and have been to hell and back.
“Why do I care about belts in a cupboard anymore?”
Fury will join an elite group including the likes of boxing icons Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali and fellow Brit Lennox Lewis should he have his hand raised in the Kingdom clash.
But he’s adamant becoming only the 26th man in 103 years to be the undisputed king of the heavyweights will be just another day at the office.
The WBC heavyweight king said: “It’s like walking up Everest ten times.
“[The] first time would’ve been fantastic, but when you’ve done it lots of times … does it really matter anymore?
“This is professional boxing. If it wasn’t about making money, as much as you can… We’re prize fighters. We’re pugilists.
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“We’re like high-paid escorts. You’ve got a very short window to earn as much money as possible.”
It’s understood Fury was paid around £40million for his last fight against Francis Ngannou and will earn even more against Usyk.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
