A HISTORIC year for the heavyweight division comes to a climax this weekend.
Back in May Oleksandr Usyk was crowned the undisputed champion, the first of the four-belt era and the first overall since Lennox Lewis achieved the feat in November 1999.
Usyk’s second undisputed success, having done so at cruiserweight, came at the expense of Tyson Fury who lost his WBC world title and his unbeaten record. On Saturday night in Riyadh the two best heavyweights in world return to the Kingdom Arena for a monumental rematch. This time, however, only three belts will be at stake because of Usyk’s decision to vacate the IBF title which is now in the hurtful hands of Daniel Dubois.
Usyk goes into the rematch as the favourite but what does the boxing industry think? Boxing News picked the brains of several figures to get their thoughts on the big fight.
Below are a brief selection of predictions. To watch more click on the video at the end of this article.
Ricky Hatton (Former two-weight world champion)
“I think impose his height, impose his reach, impose his weight difference. All the advantages he [Fury] has he didn’t impose last time. He allowed the smaller man – it’s a good little man – to bully him around the ring. I’d be inclined to hold my feet, hit him hard, use the weight advantage, use the reach advantage, use the height advantage that I don’t think he used last time and just have one voice in the corner.”
Adam Smith (Boxing broadcaster)
“It’s interesting what Usyk’s going to do because Fury’s probably going to shake it up a little bit and try and get that jab going, the uppercuts, everything that worked between rounds four and seven for him. Round nine happened and that might have a big impact on this fight. Can Usyk hurt Fury again? If Fury’s going to go for it early – and leave enough gas in the tank for the second half – and if Usyk survives the storm. It’s a really puzzling fight.”
Callum Smith (Former WBA super middleweight champion)
“Usyk might just have his number. I think he’s hard to beat. It’s a fight I’m looking forward to. I think it’ll be another close one. Going off the last fight with momentum you have to back Usyk. If Fury can make adjustments it’s definitely a winnable fight for Fury. I think you’ve got to side with Usyk at the minute.
Lawrence Okolie (Former WBO cruiserweight champion)
“I think Fury is going to win. The first fight was so close but I think Fury’s got more adapting he can do. Usyk’s always consistent. I don’t think he’s going to be able to climb another level, he’s always at A. But I think Fury might just be able to get to A+ on the day.”
