Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.

WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14) is refusing to overlook Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (24) despite the WBC titleholder’s ordinary performance in his last fight.

Fury fought a 10-round non-title bout against boxing debutant and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou 0-1 in Saudi Arabia on October 28. He had to climb off the canvas in the third round to score a split decision win in what was his first fight in almost a year.

It was the type of performance that had some fans and pundits writing off the 35-year-old Brit’s chances against slick-boxing Ukrainian southpaw Usyk, 36.

But the camp of the former undisputed cruiserweight champion are not taking Fury lightly as they prepared for the blockbuster showdown in Saudi Arabia on February 17.

“We`ve been working to get this fight for a long, long time and finally we did it,” Usyk’s manager Egis Klimas said at the World Boxing Council’s weekly press conference in Mexico City.

“Definitely it isn`t going to be an easy fight. It will probably be the hardest fight of Oleksandr’s career.

“He’s confident, but simultaneously he knows full well that there’s going to be a lot of work to do. He’s a hard worker, a good athlete and a very good fighter.”

Usyk had dramas himself in his last fight when he had to recover from a knockdown in round five before finishing off Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois 19-2 (18) in round nine of their August clash in Poland.

The blow that send Usyk down was ruled low, but it led some to question how well he can take a body shot.

At six-foot-nine Fury is not known as a body puncher and finding boxers with similar dimensions and style could prove problematic to the Usyk camp.

“It`s not going to be easy to get sparring partners, because Tyson Fury is very tall, with a long reach and he has a very awkward style and he’s heavy, so this is going to be the biggest challenge,” Klimas admitted.

“But I have no doubts that Oleksandr is going to win. Factors will be his footwork, his intelligence, his boxing IQ. I wouldn’t even say Fury has big power. He has a lot of weight and he leans on fighters. That`s how he wears them down. But it won’t be easy to beat down Oleksandr.

“Don’t forget that as cruiserweight champion Oleksandr already held all four belts. Nobody believed that he could go so far in the heavyweight division. Nobody believed that he could come in and dominate the heavyweight division which is doing.

“I’ve been blessed to work with Oleksandr. Of course this means a lot to me. He`s a very good human being, he has no envy, he always smiles, is happy he enjoys greeting people. It is a pleasure to be with Oleksandr. This will be a great show. The biggest show!”