There's been an explanation for why Tyson Fury will be able to have his beard for his fight against Oleksandr Usyk as he seeks to win in the rematch against the only boxer to have defeated him in his professional career.
There's always plenty of controversy in the build up to a boxing match as the customary war of words breaks out between the camps of these two men who are about to beat seven shades of s**t out of each other.
However, one of the main attack lines from Usyk's camp this time around had been targeted at the hairy chinsulation Fury had on his face in the form of a big beard.
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There are rules over beard length when it comes to boxing and Team Usyk thought that Fury needed a shave to trim his beard down to a more appropriate size.
As reported by the Sun, Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk complained: “The WBC rules clearly say, ‘A boxer may espouse a trimmed beard as long as the hair thickness does not cushion or affect the impact or trajectory of punches, or cause cuts or abrasions to his rival’.
"So, Tyson’s beard has to be trimmed.”
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Fury's team were having none of this, with his manager Spencer Brown countering in a chat with ESPN: "Tyson Fury has boxed with a beard on many occasions as do other fighters, most recently Beterbiev.
"Usyk himself has come out publicly and said Tyson having a beard is no problem.
"There is no law or ruling in boxing to say you can't fight with a beard. It's ridiculous that this has already been brought up in a rules meeting to no avail.
"Simply put if Usyk had a beard we would have no issue. This is not a fashion show, it's boxing."
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Now, Fury has had an encounter with the beard inspector and all the authorities have confirmed that he'll be able to step into the ring without needing to take a razor to his chin first.
Speaking ahead of the fight, Fury promised that he was going to really hurt Usyk and said he'd been joking around before the previous fight where he'd been defeated by the Ukrainian by split decision.
He said: "I’m going to dish out a whole lot of pain. I’m going to put this f**ker in the hurt locker, for sure.
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"I’ve got nothing to say apart there’s going to be a whole lot of hurt and pain in this fight, you watch. Watch me go to work on this f**ker.
"The talking has been done. The first fight I talked and joked. All of my career. This time I’m serious – I’m going to do some f**king damage here on Saturday night.”
How to watch Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk in the UK
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To watch Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk go head to head, there are three options:
1.) You can watch the rematch on DAZN with no subscription required. All you need to do is buy the PPV for £24.99 and you will automatically get a seven-day free trial which you can later cancel to stop the subscription from rolling over. You’ll be able to stream the match on a range of devices including PlayStation, Chromecast, and Smart TV. If you do decide to roll over your free trial, you’ll move onto a monthly plan costing £24.99 per month and get access to over 150 fights every year, with the option to cancel with 30 days’ notice.
2.) You can also tune in live on Sky Sports Box Office (Sky channel 491). The event is priced at £24.95 for Sky customers in the UK and €27.95 if you’re based in the Republic of Ireland. Sadly Sky does not offer free trials, but Sky subscribers can book the match here and if you’re new to Sky, you can sign up here.
3.) Finally, you can watch the fight on TNT Sports with a Prime Video subscription (free for the first month then £8.99/ month), provided you have discovery+ (from £3.99/ month) as part of your subscription. If you don't fancy shelling out, you can simply cancel your subscription after the first month.
Topics: Tyson Fury, Boxing, Sport, Oleksandr Usyk
Joe Harker