JOHNNY NELSON has backed Tyson Fury to beat Oleksandr Usyk for three reasons.
The pair of unbeaten champions are in talks for the heavyweight division’s first four-belt title unification next year.
And former world champion-turned pundit Nelson has backed Fury to trump the ex-cruiserweight king.
He told Sky Sports: “I think it’s the perfect match-up for two unorthodox fighters. It’s going to split opinion.
“In my opinion I’d say Tyson Fury will win. He’s too big, too smart, too strong, in and out of the ring.
“But I think it’ll be lost in translation if he tries the old mind games.
“Fighting doesn’t just begin in the ring. It’s the mental aspect, it’s the build-up to it, it’s how you approach the fight.
“But Tyson Fury has proved himself to be a fully-fledged fighting man, and a big one.
“It’ll be Usyk that has to prove: ‘No matter how big you are, I’m going to make you fall’. I’m going with Tyson Fury on this one.”
Fury, 34, beat Derek Chisora, 38, in ten rounds of his last fight, his third victory in their series.
And Usyk, 35, watched from ringside in Tottenham and negotiations for the unification kickstarted soon after.
Promoter Bob Arum said: “The two fighters have agreed to fight each other next.
“With Fury and Usyk we’re dealing with two adults, not a lot of [rubbish] back and forth.
“Usyk is a good friend of mine, he’s very intelligent and Tyson is Superman, both as an athlete and as an intellect.
“So they want the fight. Both of them want the fight and so there’ll be very little, if any, [messing] around.
“So we’ll be able to make that happen. I’m very, very confident.
“As I said the fighters have both agreed to fight each other next without any interim fights.”
