Ladies and gentlemen, we have a heavyweight fight.

Once we’ve dispensed with the “it’s a real fight, not an exhibition” silliness in Saudi Arabia this weekend, it seems that rival title claimants Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will finally put their respective baubles on the line in a long-awaited unification on December 23 or early next year. 

OK, we’ll believe it when we actually see it. 

But in the meantime, we’ll proceed as if it’s legit.

Fury has been in the kingdom prepping for a non-title engagement against ex-UFC heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannou that's scheduled for Saturday in Riyadh. Usyk, meanwhile, is several weeks removed from his most recent title defense, a ninth-round TKO over Daniel Dubois in which he was dropped by a body shot ruled low by referee Luis Pabon.

The two have shared space atop the big-boy division for more than two years since the Ukrainian, a former undisputed champ at cruiserweight, climbed the ladder to defeat Anthony Joshua on Joshua's home turf in England. He repeated the feat 11 months later in the Saudi city of Jeddah, about 600 miles southwest of Riyadh.

If it happens, the winner will become the division's first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis.

In terms of boxing prowess, though Usyk is hardly a small man at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, much of the run-up to this fight will suggest his path to victory involves more nuance than savagery.

He was light years ahead of Joshua despite disadvantages in height and weight and was able to start exchanges and avoid replies with superior hand speed and footwork, using angles to bamboozle a fundamentally inferior foe and ultimately securing a mental victory that preceded the official one.

He'll face even more vast physical differences against Fury, who stands 6-foot-9, has weighed more than 260 pounds for his last four fights, and has a pterodactyl-like 85-inch reach.

Fury could use those dimensions to stay on the perimeter behind a jab and make it almost untenable for Usyk to get near him with meaningful punishment, while raining down impactful combinations of his own. Or, if he works like his second fight with a 6-foot-7, 231-pound Deontay Wilder, he could fight off the front foot, step forward and look to bombard his smaller opponent without compunction.

Either way, it seems a difficult road for Usyk to travel.

As for power, it’s not the first thing for which Usyk or Fury are celebrated.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Usyk was never in one place long enough to receive meaningful volleys from a bigger and presumably stronger Joshua, but he wound up being the fighter closer to a stoppage victory more often across their 24 rounds together. His individual blows aren't particularly devastating, but he amplifies their impact with superior precision and speed.

The effect was similar in the recent fight with Dubois, who was similarly out of his element when it came to anything other than brute force. Ultimately, Usyk's KO didn't come from a single skull-rattling blow as much as the boxing version of death from a thousand cuts.

Fury, thanks to gargantuan size and ill temper, can find success when he decides to be the bully in the ring. His second fight with Wilder was a remarkable example of big-man brutality, featuring a pair of knockdowns before the end came in Round 7.

He can dump an opponent to the floor with a single blow or batter that same rival into physical uselessness over multiple rounds, which is again a significant obstacle to overcome.

That’ll mean good defense is not a luxury for Usyk. It's a necessity.

Given the size of the dogs whose yards he's been invading since moving to heavyweight, engaging in extended firefights hasn’t been an option. And it won't be any different with Fury, given the height and weight discrepancies that'll be in play come fight night.

He simply must use footwork, instinct, and savvy to avoid fight-defining shots if he's to get the bout into a back half in which he may find an advantage due to conditioning. If he can elude big shots and frustrate the bigger man with stinging replies, even better.

Fury has remarkable recuperative powers as shown by the four times he climbed off the canvas across his trilogy with Wilder. But even when he's not depending on those zombie-like powers, he can also do a pretty good job sidestepping major damage.

His size alone provides a certain level of insulation against foes who compromise their own defense while trying to penetrate his, and he's also remarkably agile for a guy with his dimensions, leaving Wilder looking positively amateurish even with an Olympic pedigree.

So, given all that, there's no getting around it. 

Usyk's got a big mountain to climb.

Fury is vastly larger than anyone the Ukrainian has ever met in a boxing ring and owns a sublime skill set that'd be a trial regardless of his size.

It's one thing to stand across from guys like Joshua, who's big but raw, or Dubois, who can be kindly described as one-dimensional. Usyk's toolbox alone puts him on level ground with those two, but Fury is an entirely different animal when it comes to talent.

Much of the debate about Usyk's chances for success when he moved to heavyweight focused on the large men in the upper echelons of the division. And while it's true that he's managed to handle the flotsam and jetsam side of things ably enough, Fury's different.

When he realizes the same tricks that foiled Joshua and Dubois don't have the same impact on the unbeaten WBC champ, it'll be fascinating to see what Usyk comes up with for Plan B.

* * * * * * * * * *     

This week’s title-fight schedule:     

FRIDAY

WBO junior flyweight title – Managua, Nicaragua 
Jonathan Gonzalez (champion/No. 2 Ring) vs. Gerardo Zapata (No. 14 WBO/Unranked Ring) 
Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14 KO): Third title defense; Twenty-third fight outside the United States (18-3, 1 NC) 
Zapata (14-1-1, 5 KO): First title fight; Never won a fight scheduled past eight rounds (0-1-1) 
Fitzbitz says: Zapata is fighting on home turf and that could be an advantage, but Gonzalez is a skilled fighter at this weight and a level or two beyond what Zapata has beaten. Gonzalez by decision (90/10) 

SATURDAY 

WBC super featherweight title – Cancun, Mexico 
O'Shaquie Foster (champion/No. 5 Ring) vs. Eduardo Hernandez (No. 1 WBC/Unranked Ring) 
Foster (20-2, 11 KO): First title defense; Third fight outside the United States (2-0, 1 KO) 
Hernandez (34-1, 31 KO): First title fight; Twenty-eight straight wins by KO since 2014 
Fitzbitz says: The challenger has a nice win streak and a gaudy run of victories by KO, but the best foe he’s faced dusted him inside of one round. Foster stays in the mix at 130. Foster by decision (90/10) 

Last week's picks: None    
2023 picks record: 38-12 (76 percent)      
Overall picks record: 1,288-420 (75.4 percent)     

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.     

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.