Promoter Eddie Hearn believes WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will fight off his back foot, and can box his option to victory over IBF/WBA/WBO champ Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night.
Fury’s Nervous Energy is a Good Omen
Hearn says he noticed that Fury is “nervous-looking,” and quite than viewing that as a negative, he’s putting a positive spin on it, saying it’s a very good thing. After all, that is likely to be wishful considering because he wants/needs Fury to win to maintain alive the large British bash against his fighter AJ.
Hearn has been picking Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) by knockout, but now he sees him profiting from his weight reduction to outbox Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) of their undisputed championship fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Many boxing fans would disagree with Hearn’s view, feeling that Fury is just too slow, old, and one-dimensional for him to defeat a former amateur talent like Usyk, who’s a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, former undisputed cruiserweight champion and has two victories over Anthony Joshua.
It’s pretty obvious Fury will fight the way in which he’s been within the last six years by grabbing Usyk anytime he gets in range, and hold onto him like an enormous Sea Lamprey, seeking to drain his life force.
Fury has done that with every opponent he’s faced since 2018, and he can’t change. Like many older fighters, Fury is about in his ways, fighting the identical way, talking the identical way, and wearing the identical loud clothing.
A Mega-Fight on the Line
Hearn obviously needs Fury to win this fight to construct a clash between him and Joshua right into a monstrous mega-fight. If Fury loses on Saturday, the Joshua fight can still occur, nevertheless it won’t be as big of a match.
“It’s not only the case of ‘Just walk him down and beat him up.’ That’s how Usyk will make you pay,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Charlie Parson’s YouTube site, talking in regards to the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight on Saturday.
“Usyk will use that little square throughout the square to pivot out and pick shots. His work rate is basically good. Fury is coming in light, which might suggest that he’s seeking to move on this fight, and I believe Fury will fight off the back foot against Usyk.”
Hearn’s commentary reeks of self-interest, and total wishful considering together with his cartoon vision of how Fury will perform. That’s not happening. Fury has no alternative but to come back forward, throw a single shot after which grab Usyk to start out to lean on him.
The one variation that we’ll see is Fury holding & hitting. He does lots of that. We’ll also likely see some rabbit punches and elbows from Fury so as to add somewhat more spice to the broth of his dirty tricks.
“I believe it’ll be a really close fight. I believe there shall be lots of swing rounds, where there is likely to be some rounds where there’s lots of faints and lots of movements, but not that many punches thrown,” said Hearn.
Hearn’s Evaluation: A Dash of Wishful Pondering
“That’s not likely Usyk’s cup of tea. He likes to get in there and throw lots of volume shots. How much does Fury have left? How fresh is he? He looks great. I believe he’ll be somewhat bit nervous,” said Hearn.
Fury’s feet are too slow to maintain Usyk from knifing in range to land his shots. Fighting off the back foot won’t work for Fury because Usyk will close the gap rapidly on the 6’9″ behemoth to land.
“I assumed he looked somewhat bit nervous last night, which I believe is a extremely good thing for him because I don’t think he had those nerves against Ngannou, and in other fights, he hasn’t looked pretty much as good,” said Hearn.
“I believe he’s at his best when he’s nervous. Should you take a look at his fights with Wilder. I believe he would have been nervous in that fight and Klitschko, the identical. Those are his best performances. Ty Mitchell said, ‘He’s in the perfect shape I’ve seen him,’ and I said, ‘If he’s, he’ll win.’ That’s my pick. If Tyson Fury remains to be Tyson Fury and in the form of his life, he’ll win this fight,” said Hearn.
