Billy Joe Saunders believes Tyson Fury can defeat unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch on December 21st if he follows “one simple game plan” for their clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Secret Game Plan
The former two-division world champion Saunders isn’t revealing the game plan to anyone, but he’ll share his secret knowledge with the 36-year-old former WBC heavyweight champion Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) when they share training camp in preparation for the rematch against WBA, WBC, and WBO champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) at the Kingdom Arena.
Billy Joe’s possible game plan for Fury:
- Hold & lean: Mauling was Fury’s main strategy to win his fights after teaming up with Kronk gym-trained coach Sugarhill Steward, and it had worked like a charm until last May when Usyk solved and defused it. That tactic was the equivalent of the Maginot Line and was child’s play for Usyk to solve it. Without that, Fury was just his regular domestic-level self, reduced to what he’d been before, stripped of his magical powers.
- Jabbing
- Throwing uppercuts: Fury caught Usyk with an uppercut early in their clash last May and briefly had him hurt. However, Fury’s attempts to land additional uppercuts failed, as Usyk adapted, noticing when he was getting to throw that shot.
- Lose weight
Addressing Saunders’ Excuses
“Tyson Fury, he can beat Usyk three times in one night with one simple game plan,” said Billy Joe Saunders to the talkSport Boxing YouTube channel, predicting a win for former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury over unified champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21st.
Saunders isn’t saying what the secret game plan that he believes will enable the 36-year-old Fury to “beat Usyk three times in one night,” but it’s likely the leaning & mauling bit that he used against Deontay Wilder and his clubbing rabbit punches.
The leaning and illegal rabbit punches worked like a charm in the two fights he won against Wilder. That approach won’t work against Usyk. He can see Fury’s rabbit punches from a mile away because he telegraphs them.
“These knowledgable men who know boxing, and they are making a decision on Tyson’s last fight [against Usyk on May 18th],” said Saunders. “I’m not making any excuses for him, but I know what went on in camp and what didn’t go on in camp.”
It sounds like Saunders IS making excuses for Fury, but you can’t blame him for wanting to help out his good friend. Whatever excuses Saunders gives, the public isn’t buying because they saw the fight, and the ones that didn’t saw the replay of the ninth round when a bad Fury was out on his feet and saved by the referee after eating 20 unanswered headshots from Usyk.
“I know that even when it came to sparring and other bits and bobs, there was stuff missing out of it that needs to be rectified and put right this time. He’s [Fury] asked me to go away to training camp with him. So, I’m delighted to say I will be going with him.
“My honest opinion is I don’t think there’s anyone out there who can outbox Usyk. Tyson has got to get it out of his head that you’re not going to be running at this man or waiting.
The Importance of Adapting
“It’s very, very simple how to beat him. You have to use your size. You have to use your physical advantages. You have to use every attribute to full effect with this man,” said Saunders.
If Saunders watched the Fury-Usyk fight last May, he’d know that Fury tried to use his size to use his mauling tactics, but he was repeatedly shoved away violently by Oleksandr. Fury gave up on his leaning and wrestling tactics that he’d used to defeat the spindly-legged Deontay Wilder.
Once those Sugarhill Steward tactics were taken away from Fury, the cupboard was bare, and he had nothing else in his bag of tricks. That’s the main contribution Sugarhill has given Fury since taking over as his trainer. Usyk neutralized that simple-minded tactic right away on May 18th, leaving Fury with just his weak jab and slow power shots to fight him off with, and it didn’t work.
“Not just running through the mill because the first five rounds was like a sparring session for him. I’ve seen harder spars in the first five rounds than I have for that fight. I’ve seen with Tyson that if he’s getting his way early on, he does tend to switch off. If he gets knocked out cold on the floor and gets up, that’s when he changes his gears up,” said Saunders.
Fury was so badly out of shape for the first fight, with saddlebags around his waist, that he couldn’t fight hard in the first five rounds of the fight. Although he came on in the championship rounds to make it close, that was only because the 37-year-old Usyk was exhausted and showing his age.
If Usyk had kept fighting hard after the infamous ninth round, he would have finished off Fury. Usyk let Fury back into the fight by not going for the finish at the start of the tenth round. Had that been someone with a killer instinct like Martin Bakole, Fury would have been counting stars in the tenth.
Not even the referee working the fight could have saved Fury if Bakole had been battling him that night. If Usyk has learned from that fight, he’ll not let Fury off the hook if he hurts him.
The remark about Fury being knocked cold refers to his first fight against Deontay Wilder on December 1st, 2018 when he was knocked unconscious in the twelfth round; the referee inexplicably gave a count while he was asleep.
Many fans saw that as an example of Fury being given special treatment because, given Tyson’s condition, that fight should have been stopped on the spot.
“I believe Tyson will win the next fight, and I believe that he will win by knockout as well,” said Saunders.
It sounds like Saunders needs to set his friendship bias aside and look at Fury’s rematch with Usyk in a clear-headed way and recognize that Tyson is out of his league. Fury’s chances of winning the rematch are slim, and he’ll likely be knocked out this time because there won’t be a referee to step in and save him with a standing eight count like there was last May.
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