Tyson Fury’s coach, Andy Lee, believes he’ll win his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk by knockout on December 21st. Lee expects Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) to be fitter this time and will benefit from sparring, which he didn’t have last time due to the concern about a recent cut opening up.
Lee says the 36-year-old Fury is “One of the best heavyweights of all time,” and it’s not a shame that he came up short against a fighter who he feels is also one of the best. However, Fury doesn’t have the resume to support Andy’s claim of being “one of the best ever.”
Fury has won his past rematches against knockout against these three:
– Deontay Wilder
– John McDermott
– Derek Chisora
Lee fails to point out that those three fighters are nowhere near Usyk’s talent level and aren’t world-class. Although Wilder was maneuvered into a world title, he never fought anyone good before and during his reign as the WBC champion.
Some believe Fury is the same kind of fighter who has been managed into a world title. It was exposed when he finally fought his first quality fighter who wasn’t pushing 40.
“I don’t see any change in him since his loss. He sees it for what it is. He knows he has to be better, and he plans on doing that,” said coach Andy Lee to Boxing News, talking about Tyson Fury’s mindset going into his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
“He needs to be fitter and more sparring. He didn’t have any sparring [for the previous fight against Usyk] due to a cut. He needs to be fitter, and that would make a big difference. Yeah, it’ll all come through training,” said Lee when asked if what Fury needs is to be more aggressive for the rematch to win.”
Fury’s problems against Usyk were more related to his punch resistance and lack of skills than his conditioning. He was hurt in the ninth round, and that was due to his chin.
“He’ll have a full camp now and get fit and sharp,” said Lee. “As he said on the stage, he always wins his rematches by knockout – McDermott, Wilder, and Chisora. Let’s see if he can keep that going.”
It doesn’t mean much that Fury knocked out those three fighters because none of them are high-level. Chisora and McDermott were journeymen. Wilder, as I mentioned, was a fighter who was strategically maneuvered into winning his WBC title by defeating 40-year-old Bermane Stiverne to win his belt.
“I don’t think there’s any pressure. No, I don’t think so,” said Lee when asked if there’s any pressure on Fury going into the rematch with Usyk. “I don’t think he sees it that way. He’s going to do his best. If it’s good enough, he’ll win. If it’s not good enough, he knows he’s lost to a good man. There’s no shame, there’s no pressure.”
Lee’s wrong. There’s ‘s a massive amount of pressure on Fury to win the rematch because if he loses, it’s going to tarnish his clash against Anthony Joshua next year. The fight will still happen, but it won’t have the same meaning if Fury and Joshua are coming off of defeats.
“I think Tyson is one of the best heavyweights of all time. I think Usyk is one of the best heavyweights of all time now because of what he’s achieved. Tyson has been a great heavyweight for so many years. Losing to Usyk doesn’t change that,” said Lee.
It’s hard to believe that Fury is one of the “best heavyweights of all time,” but fans are the judge of that.
Fury’s best wins:
– Wladimir Klitschko: 39-years-old
– Deontay Wilder
– Otto Wallin
– Dillian Whyte
– Derek Chisora
– Steve Cunningham
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