Tyson Fury’s feedback come again to chew after triggering Oleksandr Usyk rematch
Tyson Fury may face the most challenging scrutiny of his career after losing his undefeated record to Oleksandr Usyk.
However, it’s not a public tribunal that will be grilling Fury, but rather he may have to answer some tough questions from within. Fury, 35, has always relied on unshakeable self-belief to scale the heights of boxing, a strategy that served him well as he became a two-time heavyweight world champion and came within one win of undisputed status.
Yet former cruiserweight king Usyk claimed the crown for himself in a well-deserved unanimous-decision victory in Saudi Arabia. That raises the question as to whether Fury – who has consistently asserted he’s the most dangerous man on the planet – underestimated the man who finally ended his unbeaten streak.
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Fury has praised his nemesis in the past, stating he respected Usyk “as a man, as a fighter”. However, that didn’t stop the 34-1-1 star from placing himself on a different level to the Ukrainian in the same sentence, reported the Daily Express.
“I’m the best. I’m just defending my ‘best-ness’ against him,” Fury boasted. “We have weight divisions for a reason. When the cruiserweights step up to the big boys, usually they get found wanting. You can beat the average big ones, but you can’t beat the elite big ones because size really matters. These are facts.”
Who will win Fury and Usyk’s rematch later in 2024? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Usyk, 37, silenced any doubters as he dominated the Riyadh showdown, leaving no question about who was the rightful victor. Fury, saved from what looked a certain knockout by the referee, faced a relentless onslaught from Usyk’s powerful punches.
The Gypsy King exuded confidence throughout his training camp, despite their bout being pushed back from February. Fury remained true to his usually braggadocios self despite a gash to his forehead on the even of the bout being the reason for its postponement.
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The brash Mancunian wildly claimed in April: “I think if I didn’t train at all for this camp, I just came in at like 25 stone, and sank maybe 15 pints of Peroni beforehand, and the next day got in there, what is he [Usyk] going to do jab me around? Take nothing away, but he couldn’t do anything with Derek Chisora [whom Usyk defeated in 2020]. It was a 50-50 fight.”
Despite Usyk’s unanimous-decision win over Chisora, Fury’s remarks smacked of a lack of respect for that performance. Moreover, Fury himself isn’t too far removed from his own contentious decision against ex-UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou.
(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
After invoking the rematch clause in their agreement, Fury and Usyk are expected to square off again in October, with the former aiming to finally claim the undisputed crown for himself. However, even if he manages to defeat Usyk this time around and regain some prestige, Fury has already lost something that can never be retrieved.
