It looked like Fury bounced off every rope in the ring, before Usyk could catch up with him. Fair play to Usyk though, he'd pretty much stopped battering Fury when the ref stepped in.
Fury will know now he can't just walk through Usyk in the rematch, so maybe he would box for a points win.
His ego won’t let him, he’ll be convinced he was robbed by the points decisions. I’m hoping the Usyk sticks him on his arse TBF. Hopefully John Fury stays home after head butting that youth.
I think Fury was as good as he could be. Usyk simply had the answers. Usyk forced the pace, the bigger man couldn’t keep up. Usyk’s got some chin by the way… Not sure how Fury will approach the rematch. Gonna be a tough shift…
I still think he was carrying too much weight and the way he approached the fight didn’t even make the most of that dubious attribute. Maybe if he’d fought a messy scrap, grabbing, leaning on, pushing Usyk’s head down etc, it might have made sense, but he didn’t, so all that flab did was act as 25kg of extra ballast he had to lug around the ring as Usyk walked him down. He looked like a 50 year old rather than 35, while Usyk who is 39, seemed 10 years younger. Usyk must be a nightmare to fight. Southpaw. Never stops stalking. Head always moving. Constantly feinting. Strong guard. Incredible stamina.
What I gathered from the talkers on the radio Fury had a slow start & didn't impose himself in the earlier rounds. He allowed Usyk to get into his rhythm. But he did have some success with body shots in the middle rounds. It just sounded to me that Fury hadn't fully committed to the task in hand.
Fury backed Usyk up a few times, but he never seemed to follow it up with any conviction. Seemed like he was wary of going toe to toe with him. I can't believe Usyk hit him as hard as Wilder did either, Perhaps his punch resistance is going.
Plus Fury hasn't exactly had a great deal of high level boxing in the last two years. Chisora, Whyte & Ngannou.
I think he was a bit lighter for Wilder 1, but I get your point. However, he doesn’t normally fight guys who relentlessly chase him around the ring like Usyk did. And he’s also clearly lost muscle while putting on fat and it looked as if he had cut for the weigh in but then massively rehydrated for the fight. Being on the chunky side is fine if it’s part of a tactical plan like it was in Wilder 3, but to be carrying that spare tyre in a fight against a guy who moves like a middleweight and to then to let him use that mobility and pace doesn’t compute. Just look at the extra distance Fury had to cover because Usyk held centre ring and walked him down. I don’t know if you’ve ever boxed (I have) but it’s hard to explain just how tiring it is to keep moving for 3 minutes, never mind while constantly being punched, and if you’re being forced to do laps of the outside “lane”, you’re covering an awful lot more ground than your oppo. It all adds up, especially if you’re carrying the equivalent of a sack of cement around your waist. The weight gain/loss yo-yo’ing also takes its toll. That’s what finally did for Ricky Hatton, who would put on 3 stone between fights, but then crash diet and train like mad in the 2 months prior to his next bout. Much better to have a walking around weight which is quite close to fighting weight, so the body doesn’t have to deal with the shock of a drastic cut.
Here's what me ex Army boxer mate said "I think Fury has switched his style to fighting on the front foot, aggressive and trying big punches. Where as before he was weird or awkward and would do things differently….. but now his style suits Usyk and that’s what he was caught with Usyk’s left, not to mention he was moving that way, if you’ve got a guy with a massive left you go the other way not move that way!!! I think his whole fight strategy was wrong, and maybe his head was wrong too." I reckon he used that front foot style against Wilder in their last bout which of course worked against a poor boxer.
And I read this interview with Fury just before the fight & thought that doesn't sound like a man who's gonna be a unified world champion. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/a...-normal-job-me-i-cant-go-anywhere-im-tortured
Yep. I read that too and thought it sounded very much like he was spiralling again. I hope he doesn’t and one of my first thoughts when the fight ended last night was worrying about how he’d take the loss and whether he’d end up having another breakdown as a result. Having said that, he’s said it was beating Klitschko and achieving his dream of becoming world heavyweight champion that left him feeling empty and directionless, so who knows?
I read Furys eldest is leaving school at 11, like her friends, to follow the traveller way. And all the other Fury kids will too, including the 3 that are named Prince. So park a house on wheels on your drive, identify as a do as they likey, and you can take your kids out of school on holiday whenever you like. Wish I'd known that when I was caught skiving off school, and got 3 whacks with the cane.
At one point Fury was running away with it. But rather than jump on Usyk he just kept plodding. Maybe he couldn’t step it up. Don’t know. Usyk was magnificent tbf.
Might be Wilders last & Dubios in the frame to split the unified titles. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cd11lrlz6w9o
I think that’s it for Wilder. Looks like the trilogy has taken it out of him. And maybe not just him, Fury too. Eeek… Dubois blows hot and cold. Powerful lad alright but lacks gladiatorial instinct maybe? I’d say AJ would edge it if they meet…
