Promoter Oscar De La Hoya is picking Tyson Fury to avenge his loss to WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk tonight, predicting a knockout victory for the Gypsy King in Riyadh.
De La Hoya says he sees something in the eyes of Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) that makes him think he’s going to win. He feels that Fury, 36, wasn’t there mentally in his 12-round split decision loss to Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) earlier this year on May 18th.
Can Fury Avenge His Loss?
Oscar thinks that the former WBC heavyweight champion Fury’s 55-lb weight advantage and power will be too much for the 226-lb Usyk, who started his career at cruiserweight.
Fury weighed in at a massive 281 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in. Although Fury’s weight is likely five to six pounds lighter due to him weighing in with a leather jacket on, he’s still going to outweigh Usyk by 40+ lbs tonight.
One area that De La Hoya failed to mention was Fury’s fragile punch resistance. He was hurt by Usyk in round nine, taking 20 consecutive headshots before being saved by the well-meaning referee, who gave him a strange standing eight count.
That was only seven months ago, and that’s not enough time for Fury’s head to recover from what he endured in that round. If Usyk taps Fury on his chin, he may go just like before. There won’t be that referee to save him this time with another helpful standing eight count.
Oscar Forsees Fury KO
“I love Tyson Fury. I see something in his eyes. I see something in his spirit, and I just believe the first fight they had, I don’t think Tyson was here [mentally there],” said Oscar De La Hoya to the Fighthype Youtube channel, talking about the first match between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on May 18th.
“This time around, I see him focused, I see him determined, and I could see him knocking out Usyk,” De La Hoya continued. “I think it’s a good thing. A 50-lb difference is a huge, huge advantage,” said Oscar about Fury outweighing Usyk by 55 lbs during the weigh-in.
“I think if Tyson lands the perfect punch, Usyk is going down, and I love Usyk. He’s the best boxer and heavyweight in a while. I think Tyson’s reach and IQ in the ring will maybe overwhelm Usyk this time around.”
Fury will need Usyk to be stationary for him to finish him if he does hurt him with a shot, because he lacks the one-punch power to get the knockout.
“I’m going to go with Fury,” said Amir Khan. “He’ll be more than ready because Fury has that natural talent. He’s technically more talented and bigger than them. I got Fury winning this fight because he’s bigger and stronger. He’s going to learn from the mistakes he made in the first fight. The one thing about Fury is he adapts quite quickly.
“In the fights against Wilder in the first and second, he adapted so much when he went into the third fight. That’s the one thing about Fury. He’s one of those fighters that is always adapting and always getting better. He always learns from his mistakes and becomes a better fighter,” said Khan.
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