Oleksandr Usyk wore a hitman outfit during today’s press conference to send a clear message to former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury that his time is up, and it will be up on December 21st. The unified champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) will come to knockout Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) and send his career into the background.
Usyk to end the rampage
A knockout loss for the 36-year-old Fury would destroy what’s left of his popularity, reinforcing the view many fans already have that he’s washed up.
Fury will have to raise his game considerably to find the remaining spark he once had to prevent Usyk from bringing about the inevitable end. I don’t think Fury has it anymore.
The $200 million that Fury has quickly accumulated over the past four years has overwhelmed him, and the rich foods have accelerated the natural aging process. He looks like his father, who doesn’t look young either.
Usyk was stopped from knocking out Fury by the referee in round nine earlier this year on May 18, when he pulled him out of the striking fighter when he was a punch away from the coupe de grace in Riyadh. The referee gave Fury an eight count which made no sense and looked weird.
The referee’s move almost affected the outcome as Usyk just won by a split decision in 12 rounds. Had Fury won the fight, the referee’s decision to stop the action in the ninth for the eighth standing could have resulted in a massive backlash. As such, many fans felt that the referee was showing favoritism to save Fury from being eliminated.
Despite Usyk being the champion in the rematch, he is the B-side in this fight and will be seen as the challenger. This means he will need to focus on getting the knockout to ensure he gets the win.
Fury Holding Out Hope
“A little more focus and a little more lack of complacency, and it should do the job,” Tyson Fury said today. press conference for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk. “My rematch with people always ends one way. I always end up beating them in the rematch.”
What Fury didn’t mention are the fighters he defeated in rematches. He conveniently left that part because these are the three who stopped in the second fight: John McDermott, Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder. Knocking out those three doesn’t mean Fury will be able to do the same thing against Usyk because there’s a gigantic gulf of talent between him and those fighters.
“Rage probably shook him up a bit and tried to do the jab and the uppercuts, all that worked between rounds four and seven for him,” said Adam Smith to Boxing news. “I spoke to Sugarhill Steward, and he said, ‘Don’t knock it. Can Usyk hurt Fury?
Fury has already said what his game plan will be for the rematch. He uses his jab, uppercuts, feints, and pressure to try to wear down Usyk. It’s the same thing that Fury had success with in the first half of his fight with Usyk on May 18. Those things worked until the bottom fell out in the seventh round, and then it was all downhill. Things went badly for Fury in round nine as he was hurt by a scorching left hook from Usyk.
“If Fury is going to go first, will he leave enough gas in the tank for the second half if Usyk survives the storm? The first two or three rounds of the fight are so important because, in the first round, Usyk did something that he confused Fury a bit.
“He made Fury a little bit redundant. He chased him around the corners, he hit him a lot, and I think he had a good start to the fight,” Smith said.
And pretend that Usyk used as Fury tied in knots, not knowing when the punches were coming. Fury’s punches were missing, and he wasn’t effective with the ones he landed. In the first half of the fight, Fury landed some good shots that had Usyk back, but he wasn’t consistent enough.
In the seventh round, Usyk landed a full-force left hand on Fury’s nose, and he was clearly bothered by the blow because he backed up to the ropes. It was all dominance from that point, with Usyk tagging with shots. Fury was hanging against the ropes like a giant bird, too tired and injured to do much more than cover.
