Tyson Fury has boldly claimed that his former opponent Steve Cunningham was a 'better fighter' than Oleksandr Usyk and would have 'battered him' if they met in the ring.
Back in February 2013, the young, 24-year-old Fury travelled to New York to make his US debut as a rising heavyweight contender.
Fury is the WBC heavyweight world champion
His selected opponent was Cunningham.
The American was 25-5 at the time having previously reigned as two-time IBF cruiserweight world champion.
Having moved up to heavyweight, he was seen as a fitting opponent for Fury to beat in his 21st pro fight.
However, Cunningham had other plans and gave the Brit serious problems in their bout.
The veteran outboxed Fury for much of their contest and landed a huge overhand right which floored him in round two.
It took a monumental effort from the future heavyweight king to battle back, using his size and strength to ultimately bludgeon Cunningham, stopping him in round seven.
Fury was floored by Cunningham back in 2013
He got up to win by KO
Fast forward almost a full decade and a lot has changed for Fury, who is now WBC heavyweight world champion.
He remains unbeaten though and is now once again being eyed for a showdown with an ex-cruiserweight world champion.
Unlike Cunningham though, Usyk did not win just one belt but instead claimed all four in the division to become undisputed king at cruiserweight.
And he has of course since moved up to dethrone Anthony Joshua and claim three of the four world titles at heavyweight.
Usyk was the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO cruiserweight world champion, and is now WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion
Some fans have pointed to the Cunningham fight as evidence that a smaller, technical fighter like Usyk could trouble Fury.
However, the Gypsy King is having none of it.
When asked about this, Fury told the Dev Sahni on the Queensberry Promotions YouTube channel: "I think Steve Cunningham was probably a better fighter than Oleksandr Usyk. That's just my opinion.
"I think Steve would've battered him actually."
Fury has always praised Cunningham as a tough opponent, though few will agree that he's better than Usyk
When Fury made a 2018 appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, he named Cunningham as the toughest fight of his career.
"I come out here all confident, run straight onto an overhand right – down," Fury recalled.
"I was looking up at Madison Square Garden's roof and I thought: 'F*** me, it's now back to the farm, boy, get up.
"Believe it or not, this is gonna sound strange – Cunningham was the hardest fight I ever did have in my whole career, amateur or professional. The reason being he was very slippery.
"The way I explain Cunningham – it was like a Conger Eel all full of oil in front of me. I couldn't pin him down.
"He was light on his feet, he was weighing 208lbs or something.
"He was a slick, talented boxer and I tried to walk him down using my size and power, but he was just outboxing me.
"What I'm good at – boxing, moving, slipping and sliding – I couldn't do against Steve Cunningham because he was quicker than me. It was like he was a better boxer all round than me.
Cunningham's right hand flattened Fury
"I couldn't do nothing with him, and he knocked me over even though he was a light puncher supposedly.
"I walked right onto it, it came from the back of the hall, big overhand right, right on the chin.
"I thought: 'This is it, US debut I've been knocked out. Tyson Fury, get up and kick his ass.' So I got up, I just went straight forward at him, no more boxing now.
Cunningham has not been KOd since
"You might be ahead on points, but sooner or later I'm gonna get you. And I did, in round seven I felt him going weak because I was pushing him back.
"After he got tired I hit him with a heavy body shot in round seven and he didn't recover and then I pushed his head back and knocked him clean out with a right hand.
"That was the only time he was ever knocked out in his career, even to today.
"I'm not gonna make any excuses, Steve Cunningham was a better boxer than me."
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