Tyson Fury will fight Oleksandr Usyk on 17 February, as the pair clash to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 2000. Fury, who holds the WBC title, and unified champion Usyk will go head to head in Saudi Arabia, where both men have fought in recent years. It was confirmed in late September that the unbeaten pair would finally face each other, potentially on 23 December but certainly in Riyadh. However, Fury’s fight with ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou did not go as smoothly as planned, with the Briton winning a controversial decision after being knocked down by the mixed martial artist in Riyadh. Fury and Usyk faced off in the ring after the bout, in which Fury’s WBC title was not on the line, and the “Gypsy King” suggested that his fight with the Ukrainian would be delayed until 2024. At a press conference on Thursday (16 November), it was confirmed that Fury vs Usyk will take place on 17 February, as each heavyweight bids to become the first undisputed champion in the division since Lennox Lewis, who achieved undisputed status in 1999 but was stripped of his WBA belt in 2000. “I’m gonna relieve the Ukrainian of all the belts, I’m gonna bust him,” Fury said, before launching into an explosive rant at his opponent. “Sausage. Ugly, little man. Rabbit. Run, rabbit, run. You know what’s coming: You’re getting smashed to bits, sausage. You beat all the rest of them, but you ain’t beat Tyson Fury yet. “His b*****s have shrivelled up now. Sissy with an earring in, sausage. Motherf****r, you’re getting knocked out cold. You can’t beat me, you can never beat me. If you beat me in your dreams, you better wake up and apologise – I stole that from [Muhammad] Ali, by the way, sorry. “I came here to pick a fight, I didn’t get all dressed up for nothing. I’m getting a little bit carried away here. I’m excited, and I’m enjoying it. I’ve been in many, many heavyweight title fights before; now is the most important one. It’s gonna be a fight for the ages. We’ve been chosen, and I believe we’re both destined to be here. There’s only one winner, and I’m destined to become undisputed champion and to cement my status as the No 1 fighter of this era. “Easier said than done, I know that. He’s tricky, a good boxer, but I’ve seen many men like him before; when they fight the big men, they struggle. He’s gonna struggle on 17 February, and he’s gonna lose. Never mind the size. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. But when you meet a man who’s also got the dog in him and is bigger than you, let’s put it in a nutshell: You’re f****d. “He’s nowhere near the biggest threat [I’ve faced]. We know he’s slick, a southpaw, but I can outbox him or I can get on the front foot and slaughter him. There’s plenty of ways that I can skin this cat.” Usyk was more reserved but said: “Thank you very much, people. I will speak in the ring. You stop, [Fury]? Enough? I’m a little man, but I will be champ. “I want to tell one story, which looks very similar to our story with Tyson, about David and Goliath. When the Lord gives me Tyson in my hands, I will do my job.” Fury replied: “Impossible. The Lord would never deliver me to you, son, ever – especially a man wearing earrings, believe that.” Fury (34-0-1, 24 knockouts) won the WBC title with his stoppage win over Deontay Wilder in 2020, after the pair fought to a controversial split draw in 2018. The 35-year-old has since retained the belt against Wilder, Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora, winning each fight via stoppage. Meanwhile, Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) won the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts with a decision win over Anthony Joshua in 2021. The 36-year-old southpaw then retained the gold with another points victory over the Briton in 2022, before stopping Joshua’s compatriot Daniel Dubois in August. Read More Tyson Fury unleashes explosive verbal assault on Oleksandr Usyk at face-off in London Anthony Joshua sees Otto Wallin as stepping stone on way to title fight Date for Tyson Fury’s title fight with Oleksandr Usyk to be announced on Thursday Boxing’s heavyweight saga sees biggest plot twist yet Eddie Hearn makes surprising revelation about Anthony Joshua coach Tyson Fury promoter Frank Warren promises ‘historical’ fight card on 23 December

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Kim Petras has made history by becoming the second transgender woman to model on the cover of Sports Illustrated. As part of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's annual issue, the popstar was picked as one of the four cover stars including Megan Fox, Brooks Nader and Martha Stewart. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter In her cover photo which was shot by Yu Tsai in Los Angeles, Petras wore a gold bikini as she stood in a pool and had her armed posed above her head. The Grammy Award winner is the second transgender woman cover star, with actress Leyna Bloom being the first to grace the cover back in July 2021. "It’s very iconic, and a lot of very iconic people have done it before, so [it was a] big dream come true for me," Petras told the publication. Fans of Petras flocked to her post and congratulated her on this achievement. One person wrote: "So so proud of you Kim this is iconic @kimpetras KEEP BUSTING DOWN THEM DOORS" "Beautiful!!! Congrats!!!! I wish you the best and many more of these," another person said. Someone else added: "And the photo credits being colored as the trans flag? Iconic. @sportsillustrated really focusing all in those details. Congrats, mama!!!" The 30-year-old German singer also acknowledged what it means to be part of the transgender community amid a wave of anti-trans laws being introduced in states and the pressure she feels to represent it in an interview with the magazine. "It’s definitely a scary time to be transgender in America, but there’s also so much more representation than there’s ever been, and there’s so many things on the bright side," she added. “I do feel a pressure sometimes to represent the trans community with everything I do because I feel very blessed that I am at this point where I have all these amazing opportunities that I’ve worked really hard for and feel so happy when I hear from trans people in general that they’re inspired by me.” Though she also noted that everything she does is "definitely not about being transgender." “I always try to remember that everything I do is definitely not about being transgender. It’s a part of me, but there are so many other parts of me. And I think that’s really important for me to show that to people,” she said. “No matter what your gender or sexuality or any of that stuff is, it’s about what you make of life and it’s about what’s inside of you, so I hope that can be inspiring to people.” It's not the first time Petras has made history, as she became the first trans woman to win Grammy for Best Pop Duo for her collaboration with Sam Smith on the hit song 'Unholy.' Petras's new highly-anticipated major label debut album, Feed the Beast is out on June 23. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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