‘Ugly rabbit’ v ‘Greedy belly’ – Usyk & Fury’s epic rivalry

World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, like many mere mortals, often contemplates hammering the snooze button.

“My phone alarm is like ‘Hey, Oleksandr, wake up, it’s time for training at five o’clock in the morning’.”

He says this while puffing out his cheeks with an exaggerated sigh.

Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years when he outpointed Briton Tyson Fury in May.

After vacating the IBF belt, he returns to Saudi Arabia to defend his WBA (Super), WBC and WBO titles against Fury on Saturday.

The rivalry has catapulted him from a boxing great to a sporting icon. Having reached the summit, however, is there a danger of Usyk’s hunger and motivation dwindling?

Already in fight week we have seen Usyk glaring from the cockpit window of a plane and delivering his trademark dance moves.

But the best heavyweight on the planet, possibly of his generation, struggles with the necessary sacrifices and finds preparation a chore.

“I don’t like training, but I like boxing. I cannot box if I do not train. It’s all together,” the 37-year-old tells BBC Sport.

“When I’m in camp, every day and every minute I think ‘what am I doing here? What am I doing here without my children and my wife?’

“But it’s my choice, boxing.”

Usyk was followed by an entourage of around 20 fellow Ukrainians into a hotel suite in Riyadh at Monday’s media day.

With rosary beads tightly clutched in his right hand, he quietly recited a prayer between questions.

“God gave me the opportunity but God told me ‘you must work, you must not rest’,” he said.

Usyk insisted on answering questions in English. Although he relies on a translator at times, his grasp of the language has improved drastically in the past six months.

“For me, I do not think about legacy. For me, it’s important, it’s my chance again to say ‘listen, if you work, it’s possible’,” Usyk said.

Usyk, as always, is at ease with the limelight. Tuesday’s extravagant grand arrivals event took place on a Boeing 777 at a makeshift runway in the Boulevard attraction park. Within moments, Usyk had mischievously made his way into the captain’s seat.

On Saturday, it will be fight or flight time for the soaraway heavyweight, who seems just as composed outside of the ring as he is during the heat of battle.

Fury has promised a knockout which will send Usyk into retirement but, by his usual standards, the brashness was generally toned down early in this fight week.

Instead there was an edginess and intensity. Fury appeared disengaged, a little short, during media commitments. He laced up the gloves at a media workout but did not throw a single punch.

The Gypsy King – having grown a beard – says he stopped speaking to wife Paris Fury for three months during his training camp for the rematch.

For those wondering whether Fury had been humbled by defeat and adopted a new-found focus, the mask slipped a little after the remarkable face-off that lasted 11 minutes and 20 seconds on Thursday.

Following a staredown in which neither man would look away, Fury hurled a number of insults at Usyk and insisted he was the real champion. Moments later, he danced with a group of drummers waiting outside.

This was the Fury to whom we are all accustomed, although Usyk had already spoken about Fury’s unpredictability a few days earlier.

“Bad guy, good guy; bad opponent, good opponent; win, not win. I don’t know. Crazy man. Change opinion every time,” Usyk said.

Usyk, who also unified the cruiserweight division, is keeping Saturday’s gameplan close to his chest.

“I learned a little bit [from the first fight] but I [will] not tell you. After my second win I will talk to you. It’s not secret but maybe greedy belly will watch the TV,” he says.

The “greedy belly” taunt and Fury’s “ugly rabbit” jibes at Usyk should be taken with a pinch of salt; this is a rivalry built on mutual respect and admiration.

Fury versus Usyk has captured the wider public’s attention and elevated the sport – and each other’s profile – to a new level. It has flourished because of just how little there is to separate two elite-level operators.

If a third judge had given one of the closer rounds to Fury instead of Usyk six months ago, Britain would have celebrated an undisputed heavyweight champion.

“Tyson Fury is very important for my boxing career. He’s a very strong opponent. He’s important but not only for me but for future history, for boxing in the world,” Usyk says.

No rivalry should end on a tie, and a Fury victory this weekend could set up the trilogy.

Usyk will not be drawn on how long he has left in the sport, but a win could just be a fitting way to bow out of the sport.

And maybe then he can enjoy that well-deserved lie-in.