Promoter Oscar De La Hoya is picking Tyson Fury to avenge his loss to WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk tonight live on DAZN, predicting a KO victory for the Gypsy King in Riyadh.
De La Hoya says he sees something in Fury’s (34-1-1, 24 KOs) eyes that makes him think he’s going to win. He feels Fury, 36, wasn’t there mentally in his 12-round split decision loss to Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) earlier this year on May 18.
Can Fury avenge his loss?
Oscar thinks Fury’s 55lb weight advantage of the former WBC heavyweight champion will be too much for the 226lb Usyk, who started his career at cruiserweight.
Fury weighed in at a massive 281 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in. Although Fury’s weight is probably five to six pounds lighter due to the weight with a leather jacket, he still outweighs Usyk by 40+ lbs tonight.
One area that De La Hoya failed to mention was Fury’s fragile punch resistance. He was hurt by Usyk in round nine, taking 20 consecutive head shots before being saved by the well-meaning referee, who gave him a strange standing eight count.
That was only seven months ago, and that’s not enough time for Fury’s head to recover from what he suffered in that round. If Usyk taps Fury on his chin, he can go as before. There won’t be that umpire to save him this time with another useful eight count.
Oscar predicts Fury KO
“I love Tyson Fury. I see something in his eyes. I see something in his spirit, and I just believe that the first fight they had, I don’t think Tyson was there (mentally there),” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fighthype. Youtube channel, talking about the first match between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on May 18.
“This time, I see him focused, I see him determined, and I could see him beating Usyk,” continued De La Hoya. “I think it’s a good thing. A difference of 50lb is a huge, huge advantage,” Oscar said of Fury outweighing Usyk by 55lb at the weigh-in.
“I think if Tyson lands the perfect punch, Usyk will fall, and I like Usyk. He’s the best boxer and heavyweight in a while. I think Tyson’s reach and IQ in the ring will maybe overwhelm Usyk this time.”
Fury will need Usyk to be stationary for him to finish him off if he hurts him with a punch, because he lacks the punching power to get the knockout.
“I’ll go with Fury,” said Amir Khan. “He will be more than ready because Fury has that natural talent. He is technically more talented and bigger than them. I have Fury winning this fight because he is bigger and stronger. He has to learn from the mistakes he made in the first fight .The only thing about Fury is that it adapts quite quickly.
“In the fights against Wilder in the first and the second, he adapted so much when he went into the third fight. That’s the one thing about Fury. He’s one of those fighters who adapts more and more and better. He’s always learning from the his mistakes and become a better fighter,” Khan said.
