Tyson Fury is a classic example of a person with a victim mentality going into his rematch with WBA, WBC, and WBO heavyweight champion Olekandr Usyk on December 21st. Fury still believes he was a victim of the judges last time he fought Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) earlier this year on May 18th.
The former WBC heavyweight champion Fury thinks that the judges won’t give him the decision in the rematch, and he can only win by knocking out Usyk. In other words, Fury is making himself out to be a victim ahead of time, and he believes he’s got to take the judges out of the equation.
One of the judges scored it in Fury’s favor, 114-113, despite him doing little in rounds 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10. He was dominated by Usyk in those rounds. Fury did come back strong in the 11th and 12th, but only because Usyk let his foot off the gas. That was a risky thing for Usyk to do because he should have followed the script from the ninth by unloading on Fury with combinations.
Usyk showed that Fury is too big and slow to stop him when he throws sustained combinations. However, Usyk may have been hesitant to do so because the referee was pulling him off of Fury, almost like a protector.
It was shocking to watch. Fury should have been stopped in the ninth, but was given a bizarre standing eight round. It was the strangest thing I’ve seen. There will be a different referee working the rematch, so Usyk could finish what he started. It’ll be interesting to hear what Fury says if he’s knocked out. Will he continue to play the victim or admit that he was beaten by the better man?
“I’m going in there to knock him out because I don’t think I’m going to get a decision, no matter what I do,” said Tyson Fury to the Undisputed, about his mindset for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk. “I’m going to have to take it out of the judges’ hands like I did in America that time [second fight against Deontay Wilder], and I’ve got to get him out of there.”
What Fury did against Deontay Wilder in the second fight in 2020 has no bearing on his rematch with Usyk because this is a much different type of fighter. Usyk is world class, and he’s not going to be dominated the way Deontay was.
“I believe I have to get him out of there to guarantee victory for sure. I’ve been searching the world for 20 years to find someone who can challenge me. I’ve got this guy now, and I’m ready for a row,” Fury continued about his rematch against his conqueror Usyk.
Fury was arguably beaten twice by Wilder. The 12th-round knockdown in their first fight should have been a knockout. Earlier in Fury’s career, he was clearly beaten by John McDermott in their first fight in September 2009. That was seen as a robbery.
“For the first time in years, I’m going in there as a challenger, not as a champion. I’m always better as a challenger because I have a goal of achieving something again, and it’s given a fire underneath me,” said Fury.
“I believe when I beat him again, I’ll do a trilogy with him. One each, and then the trilogy,” said Fury about his belief there will be three fights between him and Usyk.
Fury doesn’t say what he’ll do if he loses the rematch on December 21st. Does he press for a trilogy under those circumstances, or does he move on and face Anthony Joshua? The answer is obvious. Fury will take the loot in Saudi Arabia and never dare fight Usyk again. There could be some excuses given by Fury to explain away his loss to Usyk, and his fans will buy it.
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