Oleksandr Usyk too small to beat an elite heavyweight like me - Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury said he respected Oleksandr Usyk ahead of their unified world heavyweight title bout but questioned whether his opponent could contend with a much bigger fighter after making the step up to the heavyweight class.

The long-awaited fight between the two undefeated boxers was originally scheduled for 17 February in Riyadh but postponed two weeks before the bout when Britain's Fury suffered a cut during sparring.

Billed as the 'Ring of Fire', the bout will now take place on 18 May to unify Fury's WBC heavyweight championship with the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts held by Usyk, one of the best pound for pound boxers in the world.

Fury, who admitted to being a bit depressed when the fight was postponed, said he was in fantastic shape but did not want the bout to be portrayed as one between two men who despised each other.

"This is not personal, it's strictly business for both fighters. I don't hate him, I respect him as a man, as a fighter," Fury said.

"He's unified heavyweight champion so anyone should respect his achievements. But I'm very confident in my ability.

"My personal opinion is we have weight divisions for a reason. When the cruiserweights step up to the big boys, they're found wanting. You can beat the average big ones but not the elite big ones."

Usyk, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion who vacated his titles to move up to heavyweight, is six feet three inches. Fury is six inches taller and has a longer reach than the Ukrainian.

Fury, who called himself an "encyclopaedia on boxing", referred to a number of examples of cruiserweights stepping up, including Evander Holyfield, who lost the most recent undisputed heavyweight clash with Lennox Lewis in 1999.

"I’m in fantastic shape," he said. "I’m having a