Fury vs. Usyk Preview
For the first time since 1999 the undisputed heavyweight championship will be on the line at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday May 18. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will battle for heavyweight boxing supremacy.
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KO) is the WBC and Lineal champion, and he most recently won a controversial split decision over former MMA champion Francis Ngannou. He managed to outbox Ngannou after being knocked down in the third round, but many pundits believe he did not do enough to win.
Even though many critics did not see the upside of a fight with Ngannou, Fury is not one to run from a challenge. With a win on Saturday, a rematch with Ngannou would have been coveted by the fans, but Ngannou was knocked out by Anthony Joshua in March. So a rematch between Fury and Ngannou is unlikely. Which means the only options are Usyk again or finally a fight with fellow Brit Anthony Joshua.
The fight with Usyk was originally scheduled in February, but Fury had to withdraw due to a bad cut from sparring. How does he feel about the fight now? "It's the fight of the century," said Fury. "[An undisputed heavyweight championship fight] has never happened this century before, and we're looking forward to putting on a fantastic show."
Boxing analysts argued that Fury was out of shape for the Ngannou fight. Is he focused on the fight of the century? "I'm always focused, up for a fight," Fury said, "and it's the reason I've been undefeated in 16 years."
Will Fury be the best heavyweight of all-time with a win over Usyk? "I'm not really interested in all that," Fury said. "[It will] establish me as a mega, uber-rich heavyweight who can feed his family and give them whatever they want for breakfast, dinner and tea."
How does Fury feel about Usyk? “I respect Usyk as a man,” said Fury.
“I respect his career as well. I’m fighting the real deal. He’s got good footwork, good boxing ability, technically sound.
“He’s proved he can mix it with the big heavyweights because he’s beat Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. I’m messing with an elite fighter.”
The 35-year-old British fighter has key wins in his career over Derek Chisora (twice), Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder (twice), Otto Wallin, Wladimir Klitschko and Christian Hammer. He is widely considered the best heavyweight of his era and despite what he thinks he could be considered the best heavyweight of all-time with a win over Usyk. The greatest of all-time conversation sparks a great debate, but if Fury is to be considered in the conversation, even with a win over Usyk I believe he needs to fight Anthony Joshua to complete his legacy.
Usyk (21-0, 14 KO) is the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO champion and he most recently defeated Daniel Dubois by ninth round KO last August. The win came after being knocked down and unable to get to his feet for a few minutes after Dubois landed what seemed like a legal body shot, but shortly after was ruled a low blow by the referee. Usyk was able to recover and dominate the fight, but it did once again bring to light what seems to be his one weakness, shots to the body.
The Ukrainian fighter knows he is in for a tough fight with Fury. “To win this, I don’t need to be heavy, I need to be fast, and quick,” Usyk said.
“You never see a fat wolf in the forest.”
Usyk explained what motivates him. “I fight for legacy, not money,” he said.
“Heavyweight boxing has not had this kind of fight since 1999. I know the history.”
Fury is known for trash talking his opponents, but Usyk does think it has worked on him. “I sit in his head like a little tractor driver.”
The 37-year-old will be fighting for an entire nation on Saturday. Promoter Alexander Krassyuk explained, “Usyk is the real inspiration for Ukraine, for the guys on the front line”.
“When he speaks, these words inspire the Ukrainian people and the soldiers to fight the enemy and to have courage.”
“Usyk is not fighting for himself any more.”
The champion returned to his home country after the Russian invasion and spent time on the front lines. He explained it was his fellow soldiers that convinced him to return to the ring. “The guys from the armed forces convinced me that I need to prepare and fight to help my country on the international stage, talk about it and bring opportunities to Ukraine to restore my country,” Usyk said.
Usyk was a unified cruiserweight champion, and his critics still believe he is too small for heavyweight, despite having two wins over Anthony Joshua. He gives up a ton of size to Fury, but he has proven that does not impact his ability to strategically break down his opponents. Fury’s gameplan could be to punish Usyk to the body, but at what cost?
An Usyk win would put him in the best heavyweight of his era conversation and would set up a highly anticipated rematch with Fury. Fury has always responded well following a questionable performance. Media coverage leading up to the fight has proven that he is in much better shape than he was against Ngannou. Usyk’s sample size at heavyweight is small, but he has proven that as a boxer he could be Fury’s match.
The main card can be seen 12:00pm ET on PPV
