This Saturday the undisputed heavyweight champion will be crowned barring a draw when undefeated foes Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk meet in the ring. It’s been a long winding road to get to this point, but at least we have the best two heavies on the planet ready for war. These boxers have impressive careers although neither come in to this matchup with a ton of momentum. Fury looked horrible in a split-decision win over Francis Ngannou who was making his pro debut. Usyk would go on to stop Daniel Dubious but many would claim he got lucky with a low blow call. Heavy is the crown, so maybe both men were caught looking ahead towards Saturday’s big fight.
Since we, as boxing fans, have been waiting for all 4-belts at Heavy United for such a long time, let’s get right into the meat and potatoes. The jab is a boring way to start this prediction article breakdown, the fact remains it’s so important. Both men have a great jabs they use a variety of ways. That said, this boxing podcaster favours Fury’s jab because he uses it for so many things, including a form of defence. Look for Fury to faint a bunch to begin this fight as these high-caliber boxers engage in a feel-out round or rounds. Which fighter will use a jab to get on the inside and set up power punches? Likely both but it depends on how Fury approaches this stylistically.
Fury can use his jab arm like a pole not only to measure or blind his opponent but to pull down Usyk’s head as he punches in a form of defense. Speaking of defense this boxing junkie leans toward Usyk as the better overall defender. If Fury decides to go into bully mode and lean on Usyk, the Ukrainian has the footwork and upper body movement to cope. Tyson is fleet of foot and pretty fast handed given his size but the speed advantage goes to Usyk. Speed along with volume and elite heavyweight stamina also goes to Usyk.
Fury may be content just using his lengthy reach and jab to contain Usyk’s offense making it a slower bout. As previously mentioned, Fury may also attempt to bum-rush Usyk using rough house tactics and attacking the body to open up head shots eventually. If Fury can smother Usyk and wear him down, Oleksandr may look for the referee’s help, as we’ve seen in spots when he hit the body. These two champions are very crafty and have high-level skills to boot. Fury has more paths to victory and is willing to toe the line of legality, if you will, when the going gets tough.
Usyk and Fury have recouping powers, but Tyson has otherworldly powers to recover from being seriously hurt. The question has to be asked: did those battles with Deontay Wilder take enough out of Fury that he can no longer summon the mental and physical strength to overcome? Fair question, but Tyson did just get up with no problem after getting knocked down by Ngannou. Of course, one could argue that he had no business being on the canvas in the first place. We won’t 100 per cent know if Fury wasn’t taking that fight seriously or if he truly is on the downswing and picking up too much speed. Usyk isn’t known for his power but he does have plenty of pop and accuracy on his punches.
Seeing Fury in such good shape can mean two separate things. One is he’s ready for combat, and when Tyson is in what appears to be great shape, he has shined under the lights. The second thing is something my good friend and great boxing mind, John Einreinhofer, mentioned in this week’s episode. If the plan is to bully and be the bigger man, why lose so much weight? That is a fair question, no doubt. It is one that he will be able to answer after seeing his actual weight on the scale. This fight won’t thrill a casual per se but it will be a chess match with ebbs and flows. This truly is a 50-50 prediction and the best prop bet, in my humble opinion, Fury by Decision.
My Official Prediction is Tyson Fury by Split-Decision.
Side Note: The most anticipated bout on the undercard for me is Frank Sanchez vs. Agit Kabayel. Also, don’t miss Navarrete vs. Bernichyk on ESPN.
Written by Chris Carlson Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
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