USYK READY FOR A DOG FIGHT

And if he wins tonight he’ll be howling for a shot at Joshua next

OLEKSANDR USYK turns to animal analogies to explain why he has no fear being in the land of the giants.

The Ukrainian superstar (above) is an Olympic champion who conquered the cruiser weight division as a professional.

But now the 6ft 3in slick switchhitter wants to use his amazing talents to dominate at heavyweight to o, w h ere man mount ains Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury currently reign as kings.

The next step on that journey is taking on Derek Chisora tonight at Wembley Arena.

Both Joshua and Fury regularly tip the scales well over 17 stone, but Usyk weighed in for his second fight in the division at just 15st 7lb.

He will give away almost three stone to the bulkier Chisora, who weighed in at 18st 3lb. That size disadvantage has cast doubt over whether he can take on the big boys currently in possession of the world titles. “You know history, David and Goliath? Yeah, that’s first,” said the unbeaten Kiev native. “Second of all, if the tsar (king) of the animals would be by weight and by size, it would be the elephant. But now it’s a tiger.”

Usyk pointed to the orange tracksuit he is wearing to make it clear he is the one with the colours of the tiger, and then he laughed maniacally.

He doesn’t seem to worry that his friend and fellow pound-forpound star Vasiliy Lomachenko showed he isn’t invincible after losing his unbeaten record and lightweight titles to Teofimo Lopez two weeks ago.

“He didn’t lose,” said Usyk. “He’s just going to change his ammunition and he’s going to come back stronger. You don’t understand how strong he is.”

Both fighters are freakish talents sculpted by years in the regimented training camps of Ukrainian amateur boxing. But Usyk, even without good English, seems a more colourful character than his compatriot.

At the final press conference on Thursday in London, Usyk seemed to prefer solving match equations on a piece of paper than listening to Chisora’s pre-fight ramble.

While he has become a hit on social media by calling out Chisora constantly all week from his hotel, Usyk has been happily mingling and making jokes with those also in his bubble.

He lives on the outskirts of Kiev with his collection of animals, which includes horses, cattle and a German Shepherd called Mr Grey.

“Six months ago I moved out of town to a private house and somebody gave me a present – a dog,” he said.

“My oldest son wakes up, the very first in the family right after me. I wake up, then him. So we do 30 minutes exercise every morning together.

“After that, my wife and the rest of the family wake up and then we have breakfast.

“Then we take the dog and we go for a walk. Sometimes it can take hours and we don’t do anything.

“What is he called? Grey. Mister Grey.

“Why? I don’t know. It’s the best dog.”

Usyk is the mandatory challenger for Joshua’s WBO title and believes he should get his shot next if he overcomes Chisora as expected tonight.

But for now Joshua only has eyes for Fury if he beats Kubrat Pulev in December.

So what does Usyk think about the pair ignoring him in favour of a mega-money showdown between each other?

“They joke,” he said. Then he laughed maniacally again.