"Little rat": the Pope's reaction to the Usyk – Fury fight became known

Pope Francis is looking forward to the confrontation between Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) and Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion on May 18. The pontiff compared the fight to the battle between a royal cobra and a mongoose but did not name a favorite.

Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), told Sky Sports in an interview. According to the official, the Pope signed the blue and yellow part of the special belt for the Usyk-Fury fight, which is made in the colors of Ukraine and Great Britain, and wished the fighters good luck.

"We had the opportunity to meet with the Pope. He has no favorite, he is waiting for May 18. He compared the cobra and the mongoose. The mongoose is a small rat, and the royal cobra is the most terrible snake, but still, the mongoose defeats the royal cobra. He used this analogy to say that in life, sometimes you need to know your weaknesses and your strengths, use them, and always know your enemy's weaknesses. So, the mongoose uses speed and movement and defeats the cobra. He told me this when I first met him," Suleyman said.

Earlier, the head of the WBC came up with the idea of approving six judges at once, rather than three, to score the fight between Usyk and Fury. He predicted a catastrophe in the fight if his proposal was not supported, and also announced a radical decision regarding the fight.

Meanwhile, at a press conference in Morkama, Tyson also revealed his attitude towards Oleksandr and also spoke about the disruption of the fight on February 17. In response, the Ukrainian's promoter Oleksandr Krasiuk called this performance Fury's farewell to his WBC belt.

Before that, two moles were found in Fury's team, and it also became known that the former Russian champion would return to the boxing event in Saudi Arabia. British bookmakers changed their quotes for the fight and stopped considering their compatriot a favorite.

Before that, Tyson mentioned the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Oleksandr told us what he would do if the Briton refused to enter the ring on May 18.

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