Oleksandr Usyk has responded to fears that Tyson Fury might be getting ready to withdraw from the rematch of May’s heavyweight showdown between the pair.

The Ukrainian beat the Gypsy King on points in May to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion, coming back from a rocky few rounds in the middle of the fight to finish strongly.

A rematch has been scheduled for December 21, with the contract for the fight expiring on December 31. The bout has been pushed back to allow the two boxers to recover from their various facial injuries.

The shot at redemption for the Brit is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia once again and Fury has been spotted taking part in some unusual training exercises, including karate kicking a bag.

But rumours have been circling that the 36-year-old might be planning to withdraw from the bout with Usyk now giving his thoughts on the speculation in an interview with Ready to Fight.

Oleksandr Usyk has responded to fears that Tyson Fury might be getting ready to withdraw from the rematch of May’s heavyweight showdown

The Ukrainian beat the Gypsy King on points in May to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion

Usyk had Fury troubled in the ninth round and nearly knocked out the Gypsy King

He said: ‘No way – because the ball’s in our court now.

‘He has a contract and so do I until December 31; we have to hold this fight up to and including then.

‘If he pulls out December 21, he will lose all of his money and dividends and won’t be a man of his word anymore.

‘Now we have started, we’re going to the training camp.’

Usyk almost put Fury away in the ninth round of an absorbing fight, rocking the Brit with a flurry of 14 unanswered punches which left his opponent leaning on the ropes for support.

The Gypsy King somehow survived the onslaught and made it to the end of the fight but the Ukrainian thinks he can learn from the first bout and perform even better in the rematch.

‘From the last fight with Tyson Fury, I learned a lot about him, a lot of the things that I saw in the fight I didn’t see on TV with all the fights that I saw of Tyson Fury.

‘So we will prepare even better and God willing, with God’s victory, we will show our best shape again.

‘I have incredible motivation. I’m often told that I’ve done everything, what is next, there is nothing further. But we just work every day, every day is a new day.’

Fury’s unusual karate-themed training, itself a leaf out of the Usky book of weird and wonderful exercises, was at least a step in the right direction after he was previously spotted on a big night out at Cibo Restaurant in Wilmslow.

Fury can be seen showcasing his take on karate ahead of their highly anticipated rematch

Fans were quick to suggest Fury was jumping on Usyk’s ‘weird and wonderful’ training bandwagon

Usyk and his team were emotional after the May fight and posed with a Ukrainian flag

He will need to be at his best to overturn May’s defeat, which saw the scorecards reflect the competitiveness of the contest: one judge scored it 114-113 in Fury’s favor, but the other two awarded it to Usyk, 115-112 and 114-113, giving him the split decision victory.

Usyk’s triumph not only marked Fury’s first professional loss, dropping his record to 33-1-1, but also solidified Usyk’s place in history as the first four-belt undisputed heavyweight champion.

The Gypsy King, however, was adamant post-fight that he believed he had won, citing that he controlled the majority of the rounds.