The countdown is on ahead of the world heavyweight title rematch between champion Oleksandr Usyk and challenger Tyson Fury.
They meet in a rematch in one of the Fights of the Year when, on December 21, Usyk makes his first defense of his WBA, WBC and WBO titles that he won from Fury in a May thriller in Saudi Arabia, where their return match takes place.
It is a hugely anticipated showdown, and former welterweight champion Shawn Porter thinks a more focused Fury – currently training in Malta – will be victorious this time.
“I expect him to win this rematch,” said Porter. “He’s bigger than Usyk, and that size advantage that he has, he, unlike most fighters, knows how to use that size, that reach, that speed, I think the whole fight will play out how the first half of the first fight played out. A very focused and determined Fury is a quiet and relentless Fury.
“Fury has so many things in his arsenal that makes him the dominator in this fight, he has to dominate this fight and he can’t afford to let himself get caught off guard.”
Discussing the fight on ProBox TV’s Top Stories show, Paulie Malignaggi called it a “must-win” situation for the 36-year-old Fury, adding: “Can he physically do what he needs to do at his age?”
“Fury has a history of showing us he can surprise us, with the different things that he does. No one really expected him to do what he did in the [Wladimir] Klitschko fight. No one expected him to come back in the Wilder rematch and fight the way he did after the first fight; a lot of people thought he won that boxing the way he did, so nobody expected him to be the one to have to come up with some changes to his style, and he did and he dominated the second fight, and then they had an epic third fight.”
Malignaggi, however, praised the “robot-like” Ukrainian and said that while he thinks the fight will flow differently to the first dramatic encounter, he still believes Usyk will be the one having his hand raised.
Conversely, Chris Algieri told ProBox TV that “Usyk is a nightmare” who was tough “to get over mentally.”
“I think this is Fury’s fight to lose,” added Algieri. “We saw how dominant he was in the beginning and middle rounds of that last fight, and yeah he made a mistake, he got cracked, he got hurt, and if he probably wasn’t hurt and in that situation, he probably wins that fight, probably pretty handily. But, ultimately, if you ask me right now, I think Usyk does it again. Fury is normally the guy who pressures them and breaks them over time, now he’s got a guy who does it and he does it better than him, and he has so much will, Usyk, I don’t see that fading just yet.”
Read the full article here
