• Inside Boxing

Talking almost over for Fury and Chisora

Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury will fight it out at London's ExCel Arena © PA Photos

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Tyson Fury's talking has been more outrageous than his beard and on Saturday must back it up if he is fulfil his promise of becoming world heavyweight champion next year.

Fury has compared himself to Alexander the Great, Muhammad Ali and Red Rum in the last two weeks while also revealing he is a pen pal with Britain's most violent prisoner Charles Bronson.

For some he is offensive, some ludicrous while others see him as a much-needed entertaining figure in a dreary heavyweight division.

But if Fury, 26, is to be taken really seriously, he must come through Saturday's rematch with Dereck Chisora that will earn him a shot at IBF-WBA-WBO world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko later next year.

Promoter Frank Warren hopes to bring Ukrainian Klitschko, 38, to the UK to face the winner of Fury-Chisora II, which was postponed in July after Chisora suffered an injury in training.

There has been more talking than fighting from Fury recently. Fury, who out-pointed an out-of-condition Chisora in 2011, has been inactive in the last two years after former world champion David Haye twice pulled out of fighting him with injuries, before the Chisora fight was pushed back.

But Fury, who may be ordered to trim or shave off his beard before the fight, insists he has not lost focus ahead of the WBO world title eliminator and is glad the talking is finally over.

"It has been hard with all the call-offs but I've never struggled to get motivated for the fight," Fury told ESPN. "It's sold out so we don't have to do more selling, we don't have to say we are going to kill each other.

"It's going to be a great fight because we both come to fight, not like some heavyweights. He fights well against big men and not so good against men of his own size because he has a peak-a-boo style and is a bit like a poor man's Joe Frazier.

"He can roll under the shots of a big man but he won't be able to do that against me - I'm a big fighter who can fight on the inside.

"I think Dereck struggles for motivation against people who no one has heard of, but he raises his game against the better opponents like he did against Vitali Klitschko and Robert Helenius.

"I'm hoping to be a bit busier next year. I've only had two fights this year and one last year. I would like to get four fights in next but we will have to see if that happens."

Chisora, 30, was once the bad boy of British boxing after brawling with British rival Haye at a press conference in Germany, slapping world champion Vitali Klitschko at a weigh-in and then spitting water into the face of his brother Wladimir.

But it was Fury who was fined £15,000 for comments made at a July press conference and Chisora has been happy for his rival to do the talking.

"This fight will be the easiest fight of my career because there is no emotion in this fight, I can just show my skills," said Chisora. "I'm excited about this fight. He looks like he's in great shape but by the time I finish with him he will 5ft 5in, not 6ft 9in."

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