Usyk and Fury’s titanic battle flies under radar in surreal surrounds of Riyadh

These complex, contradictory heavyweights are ready to recommence hostilities – let’s hope someone tells the locals

LET'S GET READY... Oleksandr Usyk is interviewed on stage ahead of his IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO Undisputed World Heavyweight Title fight against Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Pic: Richard Pelham/Getty Images

Fight week in Riyadh, at least to an outsider, is an often ghostly experience. Unless you’re up close and talking to the actual fighters, to Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, or seeing them step off a parked jumbo jet to make their outrageously grand arrivals in front of a small group of local dignitaries, chattering YouTube outlets and jaded reporters, boxing feels like a mysterious rumour from the other side of the world.

It’s hard to gauge how many of the seven million people who live in this vast and teeming city are even aware that Usyk will defend his world heavyweight titles against Fury on Saturday night, in a rematch of their classic first fight in Riyadh just seven months ago. I have spent hours this week in the company of various Uber drivers, as we crisscross the city, and the chattier men tend to ask two questions: where are you from? Why are you here?