WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury was not in favor of announcing the undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk ahead of time. 

He would have liked to announce the fight the aftermath of the upcoming assignment with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.

Fury will face Ngannou in a non-title crossover boxing match on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that Fury and Usyk had reached an agreement to collide in the ring. The fight is being tagged to take place on December 23, also in Saudi Arabia.

The decision to announce the Usyk fight early was out of Fury's hands.

“It wasn’t my choice. I would never in a million years do that. But the people who are putting these fights on, who are paying the money, they’re in control. They’re the promoters of the event. So, the paymaster does what the paymaster wants, basically," Fury told The MMA Hour.

“But if it was up to me, I would have never, ever, ever done that. Ever. Because I never count chickens before they hatch. Ever. I wasn’t happy at first for them to announce it, but there was a lot going on in the background. For me, I don’t concentrate on any other fight other than Saturday night. What happens in the future stays in the future. I’m living for today and this moment.”

While Ngannou is a massive underdog, and very few pundits expect him to last the distance, Fury is taking him very seriously.

“You can’t listen to the odds, you can’t listen to what the pundits say, or what the boxing people or anybody, because they’re not in there on the night. And if you start listening to people who are not boxing, then that’s the time you fail. I don’t take anybody lightly," Fury said.