By Jack Tiernan: In his latest social media message to WBC heavyweight champion, a fatigued-looking Oleksandr Usyk reminded the giant 6’9″ champ that “I’m here.”
It’s potentially a tricky fight for the 34-year-old Fury because he’s slowed with age, and he isn’t the young, energetic fighter he’d been many years ago.
Usyk’s mobility, accurate punching, southpaw stance, and ring IQ could give Fury fits. The last three years have seen Fury put on weight, and his legs have become heavy, and he is unable to move around the ring like he once did.
Against an active heavyweight like Usyk, that’s bad news because he’s someone that can avoid the punch & grab style that Fury now employs 100% of the time.
Fans are still anxiously waiting for the fight announcement for the Fury vs. Usyk undisputed clash for April 29th, but it’s unclear whether the contest will need to be pushed back to a later date once again.
Fury appears to be the one that is slowing down the fight getting made, as he attempts to get a better deal from the Saudis.
If the fight doesn’t get made, the belts may wind up getting split off, as both fighters have mandatory defense responsibilities looming.
Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) will need to defend against his WBO mandatory, Joe Joyce, and following that, he must defend against his WBA mandatory, Daniel Dubois, and then Filip Hrgovic.
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John Fury: Usyk can’t mess with a human giant
“Tyson will fight him anywhere, anytime, any place, but it’s got to be right,” said John Fury to All Out Fighting about Tyson Fury being willing to fight Oleksandr Usyk anywhere.
“Tyson is the A-side here; let’s make no bones of this. Usyk, he probably wouldn’t sell the Manchester Arena out on his own. Tyson, he’s on his own.
“He’s out there in orbit compared to these men as a ticket seller. So you’ve got to pull rank on these kinds of chappies and make them fall in line.
“He’s [Usyk] a good little fighter; he’s picked up a few belts, which was Tyson’s anyway, so when he finally agrees to fight Tyson when the terms are right, well, there’s only one winner.
“A guy that small can’t mess with a human giant like him, and he’s not like a human giant with no talent. He’s a talented giant. Tyson has got too much for Usyk in every aspect. Fighters, they never know when they’ve had enough, do they?
“Tyson’s life without boxing, without the roar of the crowd, the smell of the sweat and the leather in the gym, what has he got? A boring life. Tyson will know in his own heart what he’s got to do, but I think. I think there’s plenty of life left in Tyson. He’s got a lot left to do.
“He’ll probably fight Usyk, and he’ll probably fight Joe Joyce at some point, then he’ll look for some of these up-and-comers. I can see Tyson boxing for another three or four at least.
“It depends on what happens because with all the politics in boxing now, ‘Who’s the A-side and who’s the B-side?’ all this to-and-fro, people like Tyson, who is just a fighting machine, get sick of it. He gets sick of all that to-and-fro, and it puts him off the game,” said John.
Tyson will swat Usyk
“It’s not the actual ring work and the people around it. They want to sharpen their ideas up and realize where they’re at in life and accept that they have the chance to fight a unique champion like Tyson,” John Fury continued.
“Usyk has nothing that Tyson wants because those belts, Tyson has already had them. He took them off of Wladimir Klitschko, and he never lost them in the ring. So it’s not about the belts; it’s about people getting proved wrong again.
“All these people believing that little small, meek champion [Usyk] what comes out of a swimming pool looking like a fattened up chip and is going to fight a dinosaur like Tyson, that can fight, it’s a joke, really. I’m going to stick my neck out and say it’s a joke.
“It would be like a young child, a young boy doing, ‘ping, ping, ping, ping.’ That’s what it’ll be until Tyson gets him and swats him. Where is he going to go, then? Over the top rope in the third row, somewhere picking his teeth up when he’s swallowed his gumshield and everything?” said John Fury.