Trainer opinion: Tyson Fury needs new approach vs. Oleksandr Usyk

Tyson Fury may be confident of mustering a decisive win over Oleksandr Usyk in their scheduled December 21 rematch, but at least one observer thinks he needs to go into the fight with a different approach to win.

Britain’s Fury, 34-1-1 (24 KOs), lost a split decision to Usyk, 22-0 (14 KOs), of Ukraine, in their undisputed heavyweight championship fight five months ago – a fight Fury believes he won. The judges thought otherwise, scoring it 114-113, 113-114 and 115-112 in favor of Usyk.

When asked his thoughts on the much-anticipated rematch, trainer Bob Santos said he believes it would take something extraordinary from Fury to beat Usyk if he goes into the rematch with the same game plan as their first fight.

“What is his punch resistance, because obviously he’s been down quite a bit?” Santos said of Fury in an interview with BoxingScene. “He got into a lot of wars with [Deontay] Wilder. If he changes the way he fought this last fight, then I feel he’s gonna be able to win the fight.

“If he comes in with the same exact game plan as he did this one, it’s gonna turn out the exact same way. Nothing’s gonna change. But I think if he fights him much more like he fought Wilder and guys like that, then he has a damn good chance to win.”

Usyk retained his IBF, WBO and IBO belts and added the WBC title to become boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years. Both fighters agreed to a rematch in what is expected to be another thrilling encounter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

When asked what approach, specifically, he thinks would work for Fury against Usyk, Santos called for the larger fighter to impose his physicality on Usyk.

“I think he’s gotta bully him more,” Santos said of Fury. “I think he’s gotta use his body more and not over-move and over-box. His last fight, he was over-moving and over-boxing.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].