Ignore for a moment Tyson Fury’s insistence that he should have made the decision against Alexander Usyk on May 18 – he’s watched that fight a hundred times and every time, he’s seen himself scoring. Fury may be a slightly biased observer. This is not a controversial fight.
but it was A close battle. It’s easy to forget because the lasting image is of a 262-pound man teetering on the edge of knockout in a long ninth-round bout that Usyk didn’t win by much.
In official scoring, it ultimately comes down to a single point on a card. CompuBox’s statistics are also close. Usyk defeated Fury by just 13 punches in 12 rounds. Minus the pounding/knockdown in the ninth round, this was essentially a close fight on the scorecards, in the punch statistics, and in our collective minds. Of course, we’re not taking away any part of any round — that’s all important — but the point is, there’s not a huge difference between Usyk and Fury. Whenever these two heavyweights square off, every tiny advantage either of them has could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Some edges are obvious. For example: Fury is a much bigger man. (You’re welcome. That’s why they pay me big bucks.) Some are more subtle. Some are completely counterintuitive. but any of them Can It’s the nuances that will determine Saturday’s rematch.
I recently spoke with a world class coach boxing scene Writer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards reviewed the fight, and he pointed out a major, under-discussed, and maybe not even discussed advantage that Usyk seems to have. One of the Ukrainian southpaw’s strengths over Fury is his chin, his “secret weapon” if you will.
Usyk weighed nearly 40 pounds more in the first Fury fight and was on average 26 pounds lighter than his heavyweight opponents, and the human brain is conditioned to assume, at least until evidence to the contrary arises, that with A fighter will take a punch from a smaller fighter better than a smaller fighter will withstand a punch from a larger fighter.
Oleksandr Usyk presented evidence to the contrary.
“In his fights with Anthony Joshua and Fury,” Bradman said, “it came down to a very simple thing: He could take their punches better than they could, even though he was smaller. My Meaning, both men are much bigger than him, but his punches have a much greater impact on them than their punches have on him, which is why he’s able to separate himself from them. Usyk has one. real Nice chin. “
Usyk has never been officially knocked out in 22 professional fights. He looked excited from time to time, but never took his first stumbling steps like a deer or fainted like a palm tree in the breeze. But he did manage to beat Fury from rope to rope until a knockout decision, where he knocked Daniel Dubois to the ground in a win that was looking better and better.
Dubois is a good boxer, as is Joshua, and to a lesser extent Derek Chisora, and Usyk manages to land their best punches – at least one Middle head.
For Usyk, the body is another story. The rest of the way, whether it’s a low blow from Dubois or a body shot that knocks him down, it’s going to be “Yanny or Laurel?” boxing. Joshua knocked Usyk down once or twice with body punches. Fury going down clearly had an effect on him until Usyk took control.
However, Breadman believes it’s “a bit of an exaggeration” to say Usyk can’t get it into his body.
“I don’t think it’s a weakness,” Edwards said. “Usyk has his hands very high. The body is pretty much the only thing he gives you. He fights like he’s still in the amateur system and he’s trying to protect himself from other scorers. He never uses his hands Fighting with his head down. He’s very, very high with both hands, so body is one thing he gives you, but until he gets knocked down or knocked down with a body shot, I wouldn’t consider that a weakness. Its body. I haven’t seen anyone with an iron liver or an iron kidney.”
So if Usyk’s underrated strength is his ability to take hits, what about the other key factor? What weapons or weaknesses does Fury have that could keep him at distance on Saturday?
It’s not a big secret, but Fury can be a bit of a clown – and is more than willing to bring that aspect of his personality into the ring. Facing a smaller man who has a clear advantage in endurance, wasting energy may be the reason why Fury turned victory into defeat.
“Heavyweights can’t keep up with Usyk,” Edwards said. “Like, Fury has a good cardio routine – it’s certainly better than Deontay Wilder – but not better than Usyk. Usyk was at a certain, consistent pace throughout the fight Run and the next thing you know, he’s shifting into gears that other heavyweights can’t. So Fury has to find a way to not try to keep up with Usyk because he’s not going to have 220. He has to find a way to slow down Usyk without trying to keep up with him.
“But Fury used a lot of Wasted movement. He’s doing spins and all that stuff and maybe it’s okay against bigger guys, but he’s not going to be able to fight someone as quick and agile as Usyk. He has to use his energy wisely and find a way to slow Usyk down instead of trying to keep up with him. “
Based on quotes Fury recently provided to the AP, he appears to be partly on the same page as Breadman … and partly in a different library entirely.
“I did more clowning [in the first Usyk fight] More than anyone has ever done in any high-level competition,” Fury said. “It also distracts me so maybe a little less of a clown and more of an actual win. I messed around too much there. “
Okay, sounds good so far. Go ahead, Tyson.
“It’s not so much that he’s doing something right. It’s me getting tired more than anything else and getting sluggish, you know what I mean? Punching when I’m not thinking about what I’m doing. And. Not because what he did was great, but because what I did was a mistake.”
We like what we hear. Take it home, Gypsy King.
“I’m going to throw more this time. Hit him in the face more often than last time.”
Oh well. The second sentence is a statement of a desired outcome without any specific plan to achieve it, while the first sentence is the direct opposite of what Breadman believes Fury needs to do.
At this level of competition, where the competition between opponents is so fierce, every punch counts. Every punch Fury throws hurts him if it misses, and even the ones that land — at least the ones to the head — are hard on the insanely strong former lightweight. It is difficult to achieve the expected results.
What does Fury actually need to do to even the score? You may remember that he made a Better tuning than ever before Against Wilder in his second fight, he aggressively overpowered pure boxers and challenged conventional wisdom by beating heavy hitters. I think he needs to challenge Usyk’s conventional wisdom in the same way. The pressure didn’t bother the defending champions too much. Fury should look to knock out the boxer (as he did at various distances in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds of the first fight). Can he stay on his toes for all 12 rounds without wasting energy and exhausting himself, using his quick hands and versatile offense to do so?
This is a big problem. Combine that with the evidence from the first fight, which saw Usyk win by a narrow margin, and if anyone is close to “last leg” territory after the May fight, it’s Fury, and you’ll understand why sportsbooks are betting on Usyk Listed as a favorite.
When they step into the ring on Saturday, it might once again come down to a small advantage, or a punch landing, or a crucial round.
Fury says he learned his lesson from their first fight – but is it too late for an old clown to learn new tricks?
Does it even matter if your opponent possesses something that cannot be taught—the ability to accept whatever you have to offer?
Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing reporter with more than 25 years covering the sport for outlets including BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, Ringside Seat and The Ring (where he served as managing editor for seven years) Movement experience. He also co-hosts the HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three First Writing Awards from the BWAA for his work on The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Outside of boxing, he is a senior editor at Boxing Magazine. casino report and the author of 2014 money making effect. He can be reached via X or LinkedInor send an email to RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.
