Tyson Fury will enjoy a 55lb and six inch size advantage over Oleksandr Usyk in their 12 round rematch on Saturday night. At Friday’s weigh-in, Fury’s 281-pound weight on the scale made it clear that his second fight with unified heavyweight champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) will be a different one than their last.
Fury’s Game Plan: Use of size
The 6’9″, 281-lb Fury looked like a giant during the face-off with the 6’3′, 226 lb Usyk during their face-off today. Unlike yesterday, Tyson quickly turned away after a few seconds and threw a few air punches to the crowd to let them know what he had in their headlining Oleksandr on Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Former WBC heavyweight champion Fury (36) is a year and a half younger than Usyk, who turns 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 in his giant vacuum maul.
Fury is like a human version of a sea lamprey, vampirically weakening his prey once he gets his hands on them. Usyk will have to say on the way to avoid being drained by the massive Fury.
“They both know they can hurt each other. Tyson has fantastic recovery powers, as you saw in the ninth round. In the tenth and eleventh rounds he could not capitalize on it, Usyk, but in the 12th round Tyson won it. He ended up being the stronger of the two fighters,” said Frank Warren DAZN Boxingtalking about Tyson Fury being hurt by Oleksandr Usyk in their previous fight on May 18.
“For me the bell is ringing. Whoever takes the center of the ring and pushes the other guy back, that guy is going to struggle. This is the type of fight. Tyson can do something Usyk can’t do, and Usyk is a great fighter. Tyson can fight on the back foot,” Warren said.
“Can’t Usyk fight on the back foot, Alex?” commentator Ade Oladipo told Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk.
“Usyk can fight any way he wants to fight,” Krassyuk said. “Tyson has saved his energy, and it’s unclear if he’ll be able to do anything extraordinary.”
