Tyson Fury has boldly claimed that his former opponent Steve Cunningham was a “better fighter” than Oleksandr Usyk and would have “beaten” him if they met in the ring.
In February 2013, the 24-year-old young Fury traveled to New York to make his United States debut as a rising heavyweight contender.
His chosen opponent was Cunningham.
The American was 25-5 at the time after reigning as a two-time IBF heavyweight champion of the world.
After moving up to heavyweight, he was considered a suitable opponent for Fury to beat in his 21st professional fight.
However, Cunningham had other plans and gave the Briton serious problems in his fight.
The veteran took Fury out for much of their contest and landed a huge overhand right that floored him in the second round.
It took a monumental effort from the future heavyweight king to fight back, using his size and strength to finally bludgeon Cunningham, stopping him in the seventh round.
Fast forward nearly a full decade and a lot has changed for Fury, who is now the WBC heavyweight world champion.
He remains undefeated, however, and is in the eye again for a showdown with a former world cruiserweight champion.
Unlike Cunningham however, Usyk did not win a single belt, but rather claimed all four of the division to become the undisputed king of cruiserweight.
And of course he has since dethroned Anthony Joshua and won three of four world heavyweight titles.
Some fans pointed to Cunningham’s fight as proof that a smaller, technical fighter like Usyk could trouble Fury.
However, the Gypsy King has none of that.
Asked about it, Fury told Dev Sahni on the Queensberry Promotions YouTube channel: “I think Steve Cunningham was probably a better fighter than Oleksandr Usyk. It’s just my opinion.
“I think Steve would have beaten him actually.”
When Fury made an appearance in 2018 on the Joe Rogan Podcast, he named Cunningham as the toughest fight of his career.
“I come out here feeling confident, running straight to an overhand right,” Fury recalled.
“I was looking at the roof of Madison Square Garden and I thought, ‘F*** me, it’s back to the farm now, man, get up.
“Believe it or not, this is going to sound strange – Cunningham was the toughest fight I’ve ever had in my entire career, amateur or professional. The reason being that it was very slippery.
“The way I explain Cunningham – it was like a conger eel full of oil in front of me. I couldn’t pin him down.
“He was light on his feet, he was 208 pounds or something.
“He was a slick, talented boxer and I tried to take him down using my size and power, but he was just knocking me out of the box.
“What I’m good at – boxing, moving, sliding and sliding – I couldn’t do against Steve Cunningham because he was faster than me. It was like he was a better boxer than me.
“I couldn’t do anything with him, and he knocked me down even though he was supposedly a light puncher.
“I went straight to it, it came from the back of the room, big right overhand, right on the chin.
“I thought, ‘That’s it, my debut in the United States, I got knocked out. Tyson Fury, get up and kick his ass. So I got up, just walked straight past him, no more boxing now.
“You might be ahead on the points, but sooner or later I’m going to get you. And I did, in the seventh round, I felt him weaken because I was pushing him away.
“After he got tired I hit him with a big body shot in the seventh round and he didn’t recover, then I pushed his head back and knocked him out with a right hand .
“It’s the only time he’s been knocked out in his career, even until today.
“I’m not going to make excuses, Steve Cunningham was a better boxer than me.”