Oleksandr Usyk has been warned he doesn’t have the power to put Tyson Fury down in their undisputed heavyweight title fight.
Usyk fights bitter rival Fury on February 17th in Saudi Arabia for all of the heavyweight marbles. The fight was expected to take place this month but was pushed back after Fury was unexpectedly pushed to the brink by former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in their October crossover fight.
Fury has been put down several times in his career, with familiar foe Deontay Wilder dropping him four times throughout their epic trilogy. The Brit was also forced to pick himself up off the canvas against Ngannou as he only won by a single point in a fight that he was supposed to dominate.
Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr thinks Usyk’s lack of power will benefit Fury in their undisputed clash as he told ProBoxTV : “In old terms, the good big guy usually beats the big little guy, but Usyk is a little bit different. He’s a more complex little guy than most guys around.
“I’m going to be honest with you, I like both fighters. Both are friends of mine and I can’t say which one will necessarily dominate. Now to [Usyk’s] bad side, he does not have explosive punching power. That’s the kryptonite for Fury because Ngannou has explosive punching power and was able to put him down. Deontay Wilder had it and was able to put him down a couple times.”
Usyk has won two of his five heavyweight fights by stoppage, with his most recent coming against Daniel Dubois in August. British boxing great Carl Froch previously backed Fury to beat Usyk but has now changed his prediction following Fury’s dismal performance against Ngannou.
“I’m picking Usyk for that one, just because of where Tyson Fury is mentally,” he told talkSPORT. “He struggles to get the weight off him. He seems under-motivated. When he fought Ngannou he looked confused. Has he got old overnight? Hopefully he turns up and gets the job done, because I want those titles to return to Britain, but at the minute I think Usyk wins that fight.”