Lennox Lewis, the legendary British boxer, has maintained that Tyson Fury won’t be regarded as the best of all time until he faces Anthony Joshua.

Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will finally square off for the undisputed heavyweight title in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, following months of build-up.

As he gets ready to face his Ukrainian opponent, the Gypsy King takes his WBC title to the table along with one of the richest careers of the contemporary period.

Although Fury has long been considered one of the best boxers to have ever come out of Britain, there have been hints that he may be making a run at being the greatest boxer of all time.

But will defeating Usyk make him the greatest of all time? Or does Fury still have to fight Anthony Joshua, his longtime adversary, in order to win the title?

Tyson Fury (left) and Oleksandr Usyk (right) will compete for the undisputed heavyweight title

One boxing legend claimed that Fury cannot be the GOAT until he fights Anthony Joshua

Lennox Lewis (right) offered his take on the bout during an exclusive interview with Mail Sport

Interestingly, Saturday’s bout is boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight championship fight since Lennox Lewis took on Evander Holyfield in 1999.

Fellow Brit Lewis won the bout and, in turn, claimed the WBC, WBA, IBF and was thus the last man to hold all available titles. Back then the WBO was not regarded as a major title.

Fury and Usyk now have the chance to follow in Lewis’ footsteps and the former champion has admitted that both are ‘worthy’ of the undisputed title.

Speaking exclusively to Mail Sport at a TNT Sports lunch, Lewis said: ‘Yes they are. They’re definitely worthy because they’ve boxed for it.

‘Their records show they’ve worked hard in their life and their careers to become undisputed, so I’m going to be happy for the winner.’

Fury will enter the ring nearly seven months after his last bout, where he overcame adversity to beat boxing novice Francis Ngannou after 10 rounds of action.

Ahead of the bout, Lewis has warned Fury that he should not underestimate the Ukrainian, as he seemingly did for his fight with former UFC champion Ngannou.

Lewis said: ‘This fight is not going to be an easy fight for Tyson Fury.

Fury (left) and Usyk (right) will finally face-off inside the boxing ring in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Fury has previously claimed that by beating Usyk, he would become the GOAT in boxing

‘He’s up against an undisputed champion. A winner. Usyk is going to try and use up every advantage he can to try and win this fight’.

In the build-up to the bout, Fury has suggested that – if he wins – he will surpass all of those before him and become the greatest boxer of all-time.

However Lewis has challenged that claim and insisted that Fury must fight British rival Anthony Joshua in order to earn that title.

When asked if Fury would become the GOAT by beating Usyk, Lewis said: ‘No, there’s more to be done.

Lewis warned that the Gypsy King should not underestimate his Ukrainian counter-part

‘People will be saying: ‘Oh, he didn’t fight AJ!’. So, he still has to fight AJ. I think that’s the fight the British public are going to love and that they will want.’

Fury and Joshua have long-been rumoured to share the ring however a bout is yet to materialise.

However, after Joshua tipped Usyk to shock the Gypsy King in their bout on Saturday night, there could be even more reason for the two of them to face off.

Reflecting on how he envisions a bout between the two British stars going, Lewis said: ‘I think it’d be a good fight. They both have good s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s.

Lewis praised Joshua’s right hand in advance of a possible matchup with his British opponent.

“Everyone will be focusing on AJ’s right hand and his ability to hit Tyson Fury.”

Lewis, the most recent unchallenged heavyweight champion, is getting ready to defend his championship, but the veteran says he isn’t phased by the circumstances.

“It was my goal to become the undisputed champion,” he declared. I possess a record, but it’s a record meant to be broken.

“That record belongs to someone else to break and hold for 25 years, like I did.”