Tyson Fury will enjoy a 55 lb and six-inch advantage in size over Oleksandr Usyk in their 12-round rematch on Saturday night. At Friday’s weigh-in, Fury’s 281-lb weight on the scales made it clear that his second fight with unified heavyweight champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) will be a different one from their previous.
Fury’s Game Plan: Utilizing Size
The 6’9″, 281-lb Fury looked like a gargantuan during the face-off with the 6’3″, 226 lb Usyk during their face-off today. Unlike like yesterday’s, Tyson quickly turned away after a few seconds and threw a few air punches at the crowd to let them know what he has in store for Oleksandr on Saturday night in their headliner, live on DAZN PPV at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The former WBC heavyweight champion Fury, 36, is a year and a half younger than Usyk, who will turn 38 on January 17. Fury’s size and youth will make it difficult for Oleksandr unless he can stay out of range of his shots or his ability to grab him into his giant vacuum maul.
Fury is like a human version of a sea lamprey, weakening his prey in vampire fashion once he’s got his hands on them. Usyk is going to have to say on the move to avoid being drained by the massive Fury.
“They both know they can hurt each other. Tyson has fabulous recuperative powers, as you saw in the ninth round. In the tenth and eleventh rounds, he couldn’t capitalize on it, Usyk, but in the 12th round, Tyson won it. He finished as the stronger of the two fighters,” said Frank Warren to DAZN Boxing, talking about Tyson Fury overcoming being hurt by Oleksandr Usyk in their previous fight on May 18th.
“For me, the bell goes. Whoever takes the center of the ring and pushes the other guy back, that guy is going to struggle. That’s the type of fight. Tyson can do something that Usyk can’t do, and Usyk is a great fighter. Tyson can fight on the back foot,” said Warren.
“Can Usyk not fight on the back foot, Alex?” said commentator Ade Oladipo to Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk.
“Usyk can fight whichever way he wishes to fight,” said Krassyuk. “Tyson has been saving his energy, and it’s unclear if he’ll be able to do something extraordinary.”
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