Tyson Fury lost his WBC world heavyweight title to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in May; Rivals meet again in a rematch on December 21; promoter Frank Warren insists Usyk showed "he can be hurt" by Fury in the first fight
Saturday 26 October 2024 07:14, UK
Tyson Fury left Oleksandr Usyk's legs "all over the place" after a seventh-round onslaught and he knows how to "hurt" him again in the rematch, says promoter Frank Warren.
Furyk lost his WBC world heavyweight title to Usyk in Saudi Arabia, the first defeat in his professional career, with the Ukrainian becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 and first in the four-belt era.
Usyk - who has since relinquished the IBF belt - emerged victorious via split decision after a close contest back in May, although Warren believes he saw enough in the first fight to believe Fury can gain revenge at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on December 21.
"I thought in the seventh round of that fight he [Fury] caught him [Usyk] with a tremendous upper cut and I thought he was going to stop him in the next round," Warren admitted. "But in the next round, Usyk came out and caught Tyson with a good shot on the nose.
"Tyson lost a lot of his momentum, he kept touching his nose and his eyes, and that was the turning point in the fight. The next round Tyson was in trouble, but Usyk couldn't finish off the job. Tyson came through it and even came up with a win in the last round.
"It was a fight of two halves. He [Tyson] knows what he has to do, can he do it? He's been in some tough fights, so has Usyk now.
"Usyk has shown he can be hurt - I mentioned that seventh round, where his legs were all over the place when he got caught - and we know he doesn't like it to the body. Tyson knows that now, so now we see if they can put their respective game-plans into action and do it."
Fury was the favourite to win before being beaten in their previous encounter, which was also staged in Saudi Arabia, with Warren expecting another intriguing contest when the heavyweight pair meet in the rematch.
"We expect an unbelievable fight," Warren added. "It's going to be something special. It [the original contest] was a great fight. For me, it was the best fight of the 21st century at that level.
"Two undefeated fighters, we've finally got a unified champion, and it was a split decision on the judges cards. Some people felt Tyson won, some obviously went with Usyk, and a couple of well respected people - like Thomas Hauser - thought it was a draw.
"We will find out on December 21, because obviously they've shared the ring together, they've seen strengths and weaknesses as close up as you can possibly be, and we'll see who can exploit what they feel will be those weaknesses."
Fury has confirmed he will keep his training team the same, although operations may change on fight night after question marks whether instructions coming from his cornermen were clear enough during the previous fight.
"I've spoken with Tyson about it," Warren explained. "Tyson's not a fool, he's a very sensible guy, he knows boxing backwards, knows what has to be done and he'll make sure it happens.
"Of course you don't want lots of voices in your corner, but you've got to understand it was his dad that was in the corner with him. He wanted his dad in the corner, and his dad is concerned about his son, especially when he was hurt in that ninth round. Emotions take over.
"But you know what, a corner can't be emotional. It's got to be cool, calm and collected. And I'm sure that will be the case next time."
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