Warren Expects Fury To Overpower Usyk Like Wilder

Frank Warren believes Tyson Fury will overpower Oleksandr Usyk in their Undisputed Heavyweight Clash. 

The fight occurs on May 18, and the winner becomes the first undisputed champion since 1999. That is when Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in their rematch to claim all the belts. There have been question marks over how Fury will approach this fight. He could come in lighter and decide to box and move. He did this against Wladimir Klitschko to outbox him. Fury’s jab is a key component to keeping things long.

The WBC Heavyweight Champion could equally come in much heavier. That would allow Fury to use his mass to overpower Usyk like he did to Deontay Wilder. In the first Wilder fight, Fury was outboxing the American. However, he got dropped in the final round. While he got up, the knockdown earned Wilder a draw. In the next two fights, Fury pressed the action against Wilder. While Fury had to get up from the canvas, he stopped the Bronze Bomber in those two fights. Warren expects something similar when he faces Usyk. 

Warren Reacts

“I know mentally, which is the most important thing, he’s really up for this fight. Usyk, he’s beaten every Brit he’s been in with. He beat Tony Bellew, he stopped him, knocked him over. He beat AJ twice. So, he’s used to getting in there with big guys. AJ was a much bigger guy, but I just think Tyson is a totally different type of boxer. He can adapt and he is a really, extremely good ring craftsman. I see him stopping Usyk, that’s how I see it working out. One thing about Usyk is he doesn’t like shots to the body. That’s a fact,” Warren said 

If Fury deploys that tactic, he risks getting hurt on the way to win. Usyk has shown he can sit in the pocket against the biggest fighters and counter them. He did this successfully against Anthony Joshua on two occasions. Joshua is the biggest combination puncher out there. Yet, Usyk took that away, outboxing him. Fury also risks his cut reopening if he uses that strategy. Fury pulled out of their February 17 clash after getting a big cut over his right eye in sparring. The cut is expected to take around three months to heal, meaning the cut could reopen. Usyk may well target that area. 

Fury’s Cut

“Well, I would [target the cut]. Of course he will [try to do that]. He had a worse cut against [Otto] Wallin. Tyson had a dreadful cut in that fight and won the fight convincingly with a bad cut, a real bad cut. He’s got plan A, plan B and a plan C and more important, he’s got a big heart,” Warren stated

Fury must perform better than he did against Francis Ngannou to get a win over Usyk. While Fury does rise to the occasion on the biggest nights, so does Usyk. One man will come up short with every little choice between men. A win makes the fighter the best heavyweight of this era and a future Hall-of-Famer.