Boxing expert Teddy Atlas feels that it’s important that Tyson Fury attack the body of Oleksandr Usyk in their heavyweight clash on Saturday night.
Atlas believes that if Team Fury has worked on him throwing to the body, and he can take advantage of Usyk’s past vulnerability in this area.
IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) was arguably knocked out by a body shot in his last fight with Daniel Dubois last August, but the referee ruled it a low blow. Usyk was down for five minutes recovering from the punch.
On replay, the punch was on the beltline of Usyk’s trucks, which were pulled up high. The referee should have made sure Usyk’s trunks weren’t so high at the start of the round, because that punch would have been a knockout win for Dubois.
Fury doesn’t punch anywhere near as hard or with the same speed as the 26-year-old Dubois, so he might not get the same reaction from Usyk if he targets that area.
Usyk’s Vulnerability to Body Shots
“Fury’s camp would be irresponsible if they didn’t figure out in their game plan and test the body after what they seen from some of the reactions to body punches by Usyk,” said boxing expert Teddy Atlas to Fight Hub TV, talking about Team Fury needing to have Tyson trained to attack Oleksandr Usyk’s body on Saturday night.
“How many 6’9” guys with that kind of height go to the body? Not too many. It’s not easy to do, but it can be done. Fury is athletic enough to do it. I’ve seen him throw right hands to the body.
“You got to be able to do it without leaving yourself open to a really good counterpuncher.
Fury’s Reach and Recent Wake-Up Call
“I would favor Fury with his reach. I think the best thing that could happen to him is his bad performance against Ngannou. It woke him up. He might have been sleeping on him before. It’s going to be hard for Usyk to deal with that reach.
“Usyk finds a way to win. He did it since he was a teenager, and then he won the Olympics. I picked Usyk, and I’m not going to be a phony that goes both ways. I’m going to stick with Usyk. It’s going to be a very tough fight,” said Atlas.
Read the full article here
