Tyson Fury is training hard to trim off the stubborn pounds to be lighter and well-conditioned for his rematch against WBA/WBC/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21st in Ryadh.
It’s questionable whether losing weight will make a difference for Fury because his problem was his punch resistance, not the extra pounds. Fans saw the Gyspy King Fury being saved by the referee from being knocked out in the ninth round. Being lighter for that fight would not have changed what happened to Fury.
The real issue is Fury’s punch resistance, which has declined after his three fights with Deontay Wilder. He was knocked unconscious in the first fight and arguably knocked out in the third contest.
Even though Fury escaped those three matches without suffering two deserved defeats, he still took brutal headshots that made him vulnerable to Usyk’s punches last May. For the December 21st rematch, Usyk has already made it known that he’s going to go after Fury and attack him with combinations to ensure he doesn’t see the final bell.
“Team Fury believes Tyson will be in a much better place and in condition for this rematch. I’ve never bet against Tyson Fury other than the last Usyk fight. I think he can do it, I really do,” said Eddie Hearn to Sky Sports, predicting a victory for Tyson Fury in his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury’s lighter weight for the rematch may not help matters because the real issue is his age and physical deterioration. Years of yoyo dieting, weight gain, rich foods, soft matchmaking, and the wear and tear from three fights against Deontay have left Fury in a highly vulnerable state.
After last May’s fight, Usyk is going to take matters in his own hands to ensure that Fury isn’t saved by the referee again by finishing him once he has him reeling. That means if the referee on duty gives Fury bizarre standing eight counts to save him, he’ll still wind up getting knocked out anyway.
Last time, Usyk dropped the ball by failing to attack Fury in the tenth round to finish him off after the referee had saved him in the ninth. This was a big mistake that almost cost Usyk the fight.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how much that fight [Fury-Usyk] took out of both because when Usyk walked back to his changing room, he could barely stand up and was being held up. Fury was all over the place in the ninth round,” said Hearn.
Last May, Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) failed to take advantage of a nearly 40-lb weight advantage against Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs), losing a 12-round split decision. The general belief is that Fury wasn’t in shape at 262 lbs to fight hard enough to win.
Fury, 36, is expected to be a lot trimmer, but his weight could still be close to the same. The idea is he’ll pack on muscle while losing the fat like he did when he defeated Deontay Wilder for the first time in their second fight in February 2020.
“So, it just goes to show who is going to come out of that fight with more miles on the clock, and I think Tyson Fury can do it. But for us, we’ve got to get our job done on Saturday and then we can look forward to being ringside on December 21st,” said Hearn about his fighter, Anthony Joshua, who challenges IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois this Saturday night in London.
Obviously, Hearn has as a dog in this race, needing Fury to defeat Usyk in the rematch to make sure the British mega-fight with Joshua makes more money. As Hearn says, the Fury-Joshua fight will still happen, even if one or both fighters lose their preliminary fights, but he’s praying that both win so their match can pull in more revenue.
Hearn calls it the biggest fight in boxing, which is dead wrong. Fury vs. Joshua would be the biggest fight in British boxing, but not in world terms. Both guys are seen as old, faded, and vulnerable.
Americans do not view them as the best. They’re just two pampered UK fighters who haven’t faced great opposition during their careers, aside from their matches against Usyk, which they both lost.
“I think he can do it!” 👀
Eddie Hearn discusses who he thinks wins Usyk v Fury 2 👊#JoshuaDubois | Sky Sports Box Office | Sept 21 | #RiyadhSeasonCard pic.twitter.com/vFtOaA8UQj
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) September 17, 2024
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