Tyson Fury has been told he must be on his best form to overcome Oleksandr Usyk.
The Gypsy King fights the Ukrainian for all the belts on May 18. There are worries over Fury’s form coming into the fight. His last bout was an unconvincing win over Francis Ngannou. Ngannou was making his boxing debut, but the former UFC Heavyweight Champion troubled the Gypsy King. He dropped Fury in the third round, took his shots and made it to the final bell.
Although Fury won a split decision, some argued Ngannou had been robbed. There are question marks over whether Fury had overlooked Ngannou or if his legs had slowed down. Fury also pulled out of the Usyk fight set for February 17. The WBC Heavyweight Champion suffered a big cut over his right eye in sparring. The cut is expected to take three months to heal, meaning there is a risk it will reopen if Usyk connects to the area. Fury will have to banish those doubts about his chances of winning.
Fury vs Usyk
“A focused Tyson Fury might be one of the most dangerous heavyweights in history. How often do we get a focused Tyson Fury, though? Are we going to get a focused Tyson Fury in his fight against Oleksandr Usyk? Usyk might be the best cruiserweight since [Evander] Holyfield … that’s why we’re here. This fight is for supremacy of the generation,” Paulie Malignaggi said
“Anything less than a 100 per cent focused Tyson Fury loses to Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk is basically the DJ Khaled of boxing – ‘All I do is win, win, win,” Chris Algieri
The outcome of the fight has a huge bearing on the heavyweight division. Fury claimed he is on course to become a billionaire with a potential ten more fights lined up. Anthony Joshua could be one of those names. The two Brits have been linked with a fight throughout their career. Two offers from Team Fury last year failed to get the fight over the line.
However, Joshua’s resurgence under Ben Davidson has made that fight appealing. Since boxing fans have seen Joshua lose to Usyk twice, the pressure is on Fury to give the Brit fans that fight. But he faces a Ukrainian who has also never lost. Usyk’s footwork allowed him to neutralize the bigger Joshua, which he must do against Fury.
Usyk’s Chances
“Usyk is a tactician, a strategist who creates beautiful angles [and] uses the fundamentals of being a southpaw, [skills] and Team Usyk [have said Fury] is susceptible to some of the tricks that southpaws do. [Usyk] stays invisible by staying outside that lead foot, [fighting from] the weak side, he always wins the battle of positioning.
“But he’s got to be on his Ps and Qs all night long. Twelve rounds is a very long time with a guy who’s going to have a functional weight advantage of 55-to-60 pounds. Tyson Fury is a massive human being and he knows how to use his size. He’s a big, athletic, slick guy who moves well, has a good jab and knows how to use that ‘dirty’ boxing on the inside. He’ll lean on you,” Algieri added
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