Fury, 37, raised the possibility of a third fight during a recent interview, but quickly moved away from confidence and into resentment. Rather than reveal adjustments or a path to victory against Usyk, he focused on assessment.
“They might as well give him the decision before we go in there,” Fury told the InsideRingShow about a trilogy against Usyk.
Fury sounds like a fighter who has conceded the outcome before the first punch is thrown. When a fighter says the decision has already been made, they are admitting that they no longer believe their performance can change the outcome.
Given how Fury looked in his loss to Usyk in their 2024 rematch, it’s understandable why he already sounded like a defeated fighter. He was totally dominated by Usyk in that fight. It didn’t help that Fury hit a limp career high of 281 lbs.
Fury moves away from the Invincible King to the persecuted outsider. It is a defense mechanism. By casting himself as a victim of a system that “won’t let him win”, he creates a narrative where he can lose without actually being “beaten”.
“If I’ve won 11 out of 12 rounds, they’re going to give it to him by split decision,” he added.
By claiming that he can win 11 out of 12 rounds and still lose, he creates a situation for his fans to dismiss a future defeat as a robbery rather than a decline in his own abilities.
Once a fighter starts looking at the judges instead of the man in front of them, it’s usually because they’ve realized they can’t solve the puzzle with their hands. Fury sounds like a man who has looked at the mountain three times and decided it was too high to climb.
“If it’s a fair fight with a fair result, then I’ll fight him anywhere,” Fury said.
In the context of a man who has already lost twice to the same opponent, that qualifier, “If it’s a fair fight,” serves as a very convenient escape hatch.
In Fury’s current headspace, a “fair result” probably just means a result where his hand is raised. If he loses a close decision in a third fight, he can simply point back to this quote and say, “See? I told you it wouldn’t be fair.”
By saying “I’ll fight him anywhere” but then immediately tying it to a “fair result”, Fury creates a circular argument. He’s basically saying to the world: I’ll fight him, but only if I’m guaranteed not to be ‘robbed’.
This is a classic defensive squat. He protects his legacy by implying that Usyk’s 2-0 lead is not a reflection of skill, but a reflection of a rigged system.
