Former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is backing Tyson Fury to overcome Oleksandr Usyk ahead of their highly anticipated fight next year.

The bout, which will take place on February 17, was originally scheduled to take place on December 23 but was postponed following Fury's contentious victory over Francis Ngannou last month. It was announced last Thursday that both undefeated fighters would collide for the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO, WBC titles in Saudi Arabia in the new year.

In the bout with the former UFC heavyweight champion, Fury was expected to breeze past the Cameroonian who was making his professional boxing debut, however it proved slightly more difficult for the Gypsy King. Ngannou was able to drop the 35-year-old in the third round, but Fury prevailed by the way of split decision.

The unexpected punishment inflicted by Ngannou resulted in the postponement of Fury's eagerly anticipated bout with the Ukrainian. Tyson of course trained Ngannou ahead of his first professional bout which saw his boxing ranking surprise fans across the world.

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Fury has a record of 34-0-1 and while his latest fight was certainly not amongst his best, Tyson still believes the Gypsy King will overpower Usyk. “Hey, we should [not focus on what Fury did against Ngannou], but you have to understand he is still the champion," he told Fight Hub TV.

"He made that night a great night. He gave Francis the opportunity and that was just a bad night at the office for him, we all have bad nights, and listen, that was his bad night.

“I look forward to that fight (between Fury and Usyk). That is going to be an interesting fight, but I’m going towards Tyson Fury because I think he’s just going to overpower him - he’s going to catch up with him and overpower him.

“I got to go with Fury, I think he’s the best fighter in the world, especially in the heavyweight division. Great fighters lose, great fighters look bad, [but] that doesn’t stop them from being great fighters.”