Sports Desk

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury were locked in a bad-tempered face-off for a full 11 minutes Thursday as preparations for their heavyweight rematch turned serious.

Defending champion Usyk and Fury, who suffered his first career defeat to the Ukrainian in May, stared each other down just inches (centimeters) apart and mostly in silence, before the Briton began taunting his rival.

Fury, stung by his split-decision loss, has appeared laser-focused during fight week in the Saudi capital as he seeks to hand Usyk his first professional defeat.

“Talking’s been done…I’ve talked and joked all my career,” the stone-faced Fury told the press conference earlier.

“This time I’m serious. I’m going to do some damage here, Saturday night.”

“I’m going to dish out a whole lot of pain. I’m going to put (Usyk) in the hurt locker, for sure,” added Fury.

Usyk refused to indulge in trash-talk and shrugged off the hoopla of the packed press conference at VIA Riyadh, a swanky mall in the Saudi capital.

“Now we have just a performance, those cameras, lights,” he said, in comments translated by his promoter Alex Krassyuk.

“Everything’s going to take place Saturday night.”

Usyk, 37, takes a 22-0 record into Saturday’s fight at Kingdom Arena, including six victories since the former undisputed cruiserweight champion stepped up a division.

“Gypsy King” Fury, 36, is 34-1-1 and bidding to avenge his sole career loss suffered seven months ago at the hands of the skilful Usyk.

British media have reported a prize purse of £150m ($190m), with Usyk expected to receive the bigger share.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in sport to raise its profile, prompting accusations of “sportswashing”, or using sport to distract from its human rights record.