Can Tyson Fury beat Oleksandr Usyk?
After several postponements and seemingly endless negotiations, Tyson Fury finally faces Oleksandr Uysk on Saturday May 18. Can Fury do what other British boxers have failed to do and defeat Usyk?
This long-awaited fight sees Fury’s WBC heavyweight title on the line. He’ll be hoping to beat Usyk and win his WBO, WBA and IBF titles. Both boxers are unbeaten at professionals, though Fury has one draw on his record.
Never count out the possibility of a draw. We saw one recently between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke and it’s 14/1 at BetVictor that this world heavyweight title bout ends the same way.
Improved form needed
Tyson Fury is 10/11 at William Hill to win this heavyweight showdown but will need to be in better form than in his last fight. That saw him face MMA fighter Francis Ngannou who was making his professional debut.
He knocked Fury down but the British boxer won a disputed majority decision. Ngannou has since lost in two rounds to Anthony Joshua who may well fight the winner of this bout, eventually.
Fury may well have taken Ngannou lightly but there are concerns that he is on a downward spiral. At the age of 35, he doesn’t seem to be as fast around the ring as in the past but still has the boxing skills that may well see him win this fight.
He will come into this title match much heavier than his opponent. In his last fight, Fury weighed 272 lbs, that’s 39 lbs heavier than Usyk when beating Daniel Dubois in 2023. Even if the WBC champion comes in a bit lighter than against Ngannou, he’ll have a sizable weight advantage.
If he leans on Usyk as he has previous opponents, that’s likely to make life difficult for his opponent. Fury is 7/4 at BetVictor to win this fight on points or a technical decision. It’s 10/3 with bet365 that he wins inside the distance or by a disqualification.
It’d be handy for Fury to cut out some of his usual antics in the ring. Putting his hands behind his back or sticking his tongue out is how he behaved in the first Wilder fight. That doesn’t impress judges and explains the controversial scoring that led to a draw in that contest.
Another British opponent for Usyk
Oleksandr Usyk is no stranger to fighting British opponents. He’s already beaten Anthony Joshua twice, Daniel Dubois, Dereck Chisora and as a cruiserweight, Tony Bellew.
Although he’s not the heaviest of punchers in the heavyweight division, he did stop Dubois in his last fight. It’s 5/1 at bet365 he wins on Saturday via KO, TKO or DQ. Remember also, that this fight was postponed earlier this year due to Fury being cut. Could that reopen in this fight?
The Ukrainian is unbeaten in 21 professional fights with a perfect record. His win over Dubois was a controversial one indeed. He was knocked down by the British challenger but the punch causing it was ruled to be below the belt.
Usyk is a class act as a boxer but then again so is Fury. If he is to retain his belts and win Fury’s WBC title, it’ll most likely be by points. Winning in that fashion has odds of 2/1 at BetVictor.
A rematch has already been announced for October, so it’s the result of that bout that really matters.
All the hype over the four belts being on the line doesn’t mean too much either. With that rematch already announced, whoever does win will most likely be stripped of their IBF title. That would most likely lead to Joshua facing the winner of June’s Hrgovic v Dubois fight.
This isn’t an easy bout to predict because there are few boxers out there who are more unpredictable than Fury. It looks as if the WBC champion has been busy putting the work in and will be fitter than against Ngannou. If that is the case, then he has an excellent chance of winning this fight most likely on points.
