Tonight brings us the anticipated rematch between 2 of the best heavyweights on the planet in a fight that is too close to call, but I will dissect and give my thoughts on how this could turn out….
Going back to the first fight 7 months ago, Fury may have had the fight win in his head after 5 or 6 rounds as he cruised, and a mix of Fury’s showmanship and Usyk’s ability to adapt in the fight nullified Bess on this occasion.
In the end, the key moment in that fight was the 9th round, in which Usyk dominated and resulted in a 10-8 round in favor of Usyk. If this round had been 10-9 for Usik, the fight would have ended in a draw. It always comes down to fine margins at the pinnacle of any sport and I believe Fury can adjust and correct mistakes to get the job done tonight.
Make no mistake, Usyk is a generational great and is the only fighter who hasn’t been fazed by any of Fury’s mind games, resulting in a more focused and cooler version of Fury this time around. All games are over and this is a very different Tyson Fury.
There’s no doubt that Fury has a great boxing IQ, as does Usyk, however, when it comes to a rematch, I’m leaning heavily on Fury making the necessary adjustments to come back and improve more than Usyk. 2 significant rematches where there was massive improvement, the first being back in 2009 against John McDermott where Fury won a razor sharp decision that many thought he could have lost.
In a rematch that was not immediate, but 3 fights and 9 months later, Fury won by convincing stoppage in the 9th round. The more notable rematch was the 2nd fight with Wilder. In the first fight, a vulnerable Fury recovered from a 12th round knockdown, which resulted in a draw, and like the McDermott rematch, Fury would rematch Wilder 3 fights later. The second fight with Wilder ended with Fury destroying him with a stoppage in the 7th round.
This rematch is different for a variety of reasons. Usyk is head and shoulders above both McDermott and Wilder. This is an instant rematch and both fighters are probably past their prime and reaching the end of their careers. Make no mistake, as many of the great heavyweight wars, including The Thrilla in Manilla in 1975 between Ali and Frazier in their trilogy, both fighters were past their prime and moving towards the end of their careers, this did not affect what would become one of the greatest fights in history. heavyweight and I think so this one could also live up to expectations.
If Usyk wins, then I think this may be the last time we see both fighters back in the ring and what else he can do. Fury would come off back-to-back losses, Usyk was the unified 2-weight champion and had already defeated two of the top contenders, including current IBF world champion Daniel Dubois and former world champion Anthony Joshua.
A Fury win would open up the division for either a trilogy with Usyk, a massive fight with Anthony Joshua or another unification fight with the winner of Dubois V Parker, although if Parker wins that’s a different story as Parker and Fury are very close, but the point remains that a Fury win will bring more money than the victory of Usik and that is a fact.
How this match can be won is again very difficult to call and very interesting statistics jump out at me. Usyk has never been officially knocked down in his professional career so far, however, he was knocked out by unified world light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev with a brutal amateur body kick in 2011. This knockdown was in the last round and Another interesting statistic is that Fury won by knockout in every round except u 12.
My prediction is a 12th round stoppage for Fury as these stats just scream to me and I think Fury will want to leave it all in the ring this time.
I can see him going on points, but I want to make a bold prediction and put a few pounds on Fury for a 12th round knockout.
What are readers predicting…?
