TYSON Fury has already spoken on several occasions about the level of comfort he felt, boxing beautifully and flowing just as easily for sustained periods against Oleksandr Usyk during their undisputed heavyweight showdown in May.
Then, just as fast as he’d built up a lead over the first half of their historic contest on May 17, it evaporated without much respite with the savvy Ukrainian making adjustments and finding sustained success afterwards.
The now-former WBC world heavyweight champion expects to stop the two-division undisputed titleholder in this weekend’s rematch, dismissing the split decision defeat as little more than an odd combination of excessive showboating and a sudden energy dump heading into round seven.
Usyk fared better in the seventh than the three preceding it and while he didn’t win that stanza on the judges’ scorecards, he noticeably finished stronger.
The 37-year-old then enjoyed a clean sweep from rounds eight through eleven including a decisive momentum shift in the ninth, badly hurting Fury 30 seconds before the bell as the Brit took a standing eight-count from referee Mark Nelson.
On what his charge must do this time around to avoid history repeating itself, Queensberry chief Frank Warren told Boxing News: “He needs to be focused 100% of the time, no showboating, it was a fight of two halves and remember, he was the stronger fighter on all the cards in the final round.”
“He’s got great recuperative powers, think of great Fury fights… on the floor against Wilder in the first – I thought it was all over and he got up – got cheated out of that fight, down twice again in the trilogy, he does go down but gets up.
“People forget Usyk’s been hurt a few times too, especially against Daniel Dubois, irrespective of what it was… he was hurt.”
That refers to a divisive body shot flooring Usyk during round five of his mandatory title defence against Dubois in Wroclaw last summer. The punch was deemed unintentionally low, Usyk granted four minutes’ recovery time and once recuperated, accelerated his intensity before stopping him four rounds later.
Yet now Dubois let that injustice fuel his resurgence and impressive victories on Saudi-backed shows has seen him earn the distinction as IBF world champion.
He doubled down on wanting to avenge that defeat after an emphatic fifth-round upset knockout win over Anthony Joshua in September. The 27-year-old will defend his title on Feb. 22 against Fury’s friend and former WBO champion Joseph Parker but while Warren shared his excitement for the next heavyweight generation, stressed one factor will ultimately decide Saturday’s showdown.
“Having shared the ring with one another, it’s about who the last fight took more out of and I believe that is Usyk.
“They’re both very smart boxers with great pedigree, Usyk has become a big man… when you think of him coming up from cruiserweight, he’s a natural heavyweight now and has been over the past four-and-a-half years,” Warren continued, pointing to replaying footage of the unbeaten champion looking suave and very much a fully-fledged heavyweight at Tuesday’s grand arrivals.
“Anything can happen, it was a razor-thin decision and edge-of-your-seat stuff, but I feel our man will prevail.”
