Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk: A Head-to-Toe Breakdown
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a heavyweight fight.
Rival heavyweight title claimants Tyson Fury (WBC) and Oleksandr Usyk (IBF/WBA/WBO) will put their respective baubles on the line in a long-awaited unification bout in Saudi Arabia, possibly on December 23 or early next year.
Fury was in the kingdom Saturday taking on ex-UFC heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, where he suffered a major scare but claimed victory via split decision. Usyk, meanwhile, is not far removed from his most recent title defense, a ninth-round TKO over Daniel Dubois in which he was dropped by a body shot ruled low by referee Luis Pabon.
The two have shared space atop the big-boy division for more than two years since the Ukrainian, a former undisputed champ at cruiserweight, climbed the ladder to defeat Anthony Joshua on Joshua's home turf in England. He repeated the feat 11 months later in the Saudi city of Jeddah, about 600 miles southwest of Riyadh.
The prospect of the two champs meeting set the B/R combat team ablaze and prompted a head-to-toe breakdown in which we looked at boxing ability, defense, punching power and X-factors. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the comments.
What You Need to Know
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What: Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk
Where: Site TBA, Saudi Arabia
When: December 23 or early 2024
TV: TBA
What's at Stake: Simply put, heavyweight domination.
Their achievements have put Fury and Usyk at the top of the sport's traditional glamor division and the bout is even more riveting because neither has lost in a professional ring.
Fury toppled long-running champ Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 before a prolonged hiatus due to personal issues and then returned for an unlikely vanquishing of Deontay Wilder across three fights (two wins, one draw) from 2018 to 2021. He's defended twice since completing the trilogy, beating Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora into submission in a combined 16 rounds.
As for Usyk, he completed his own four-belt dominance at cruiserweight in 2018 before rising to defeat Chazz Witherspoon (TKO 7) and Chisora (UD 12) to earn the Joshua title try.
He's 5-0 with two KOs at heavyweight after 16 straight wins with 12 KOs before the jump.
The winner will become the division's first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Tyson Fury's Tale of the Tape
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Nickname: The Gypsy King
Record: 33-0-1, 24 KOs
Height: 6'9"
Weight: 268.75 pounds*
Reach: 85"
Age: 35
Stance: Orthodox
Rounds: 220
All stats courtesy of BoxRec.
*Official weight at last fight in December 2022.
Oleksandr Usyk's Tale of the Tape
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Nickname: The Cat
Record: 21-0, 14 KOs
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 221 pounds*
Reach: 78"
Age: 36
Stance: Southpaw
Rounds: 177
All stats courtesy of BoxRec.
*Official weight at last fight in weight class in August 2023.
Boxing Ability
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Usyk is hardly a small man at 6'3" and 220 or so pounds, but expect much of the run-up to this fight to suggest his path to victory involves far more nuance than savagery.
The crafty southpaw was worlds ahead of Joshua in spite of perceived disadvantages in height (three inches) and weight (20 pounds). He was able to initiate exchanges and avoid replies with superior hand speed and footwork, using angles to bamboozle a fundamentally inferior foe and ultimately securing a mental victory that preceded the official one.
He'll face even more vast physical differences against Fury, who stands 6'9", has weighed more than 260 pounds for his last four fights, and has a pterodactyl-like 85-inch reach.
Fury could use those dimensions to stay on the perimeter behind a jab and make it almost untenable for Usyk to get near him with meaningful punishment, while raining down impactful combinations of his own. Or, if he operates in a manner similar to his second fight with a 6'7", 231-pound Wilder, he could fight off the front foot, step forward and look to bombard his smaller opponent without compunction.
Either way, it seems a difficult road for Usyk to travel.
Advantage: Fury
Punching Power
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They've combined for 38 KOs in 54 professional victories.
Nevertheless, neither Usyk nor Fury is lauded first and foremost for power.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Usyk was never in one place long enough to receive powerful volleys from a bigger and presumably stronger Joshua, but he wound up being the fighter closer to a stoppage victory more often across their 24 rounds together. His individual blows aren't particularly devastating, but he amplifies their impact with superior precision and speed.
The effect was similar in the recent fight with Dubois, who was similarly out of his element when it came to anything other than brute force. Ultimately, Usyk's KO didn't come from a single skull-rattling blow as much as the boxing version of death from a thousand cuts.
Fury, thanks to his gargantuan size and ill ring temper, can find success when he decides to be the bully in the ring. His second fight with Wilder was a remarkable example of big-man brutality, featuring a pair of knockdowns before the end came in Round 7.
He can dump an opponent to the floor with a single blow or batter that same rival into physical uselessness over multiple rounds, which is again a significant obstacle to overcome.
Advantage: Fury
Defensive Ability
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It's not a luxury for Usyk to have good defense, it's a necessity.
Given the size of the dogs whose yards he's been invading since moving to heavyweight, engaging in extended firefights is simply not an option. And it won't be any different with Fury, given the height and weight discrepancies that'll be in play come fight night.
He simply must use footwork, instinct and savvy to avoid fight-defining shots if he's to get the bout into a back half in which he may find an advantage due to his conditioning. If he can elude big shots and frustrate the bigger man with stinging replies, even better.
Fury has remarkable recuperative powers as evidenced by the four times he climbed off the canvas across his trilogy with Wilder. But when he's not depending on those zombie-like powers as a means to victory, he can also do a pretty good job sidestepping major damage.
His size alone provides a certain level of insulation against foes who have to compromise their own defense while trying to penetrate his, and he's also remarkably agile for a guy with his dimensions, leaving Wilder looking positively amateurish in spite of an Olympic pedigree.
Bottom line, Fury's hardly a defensive sieve. But if Usyk has an advantage, it's here.
Advantage: Usyk
X-Factors
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Fury's X-Factor: Will He Take It Seriously Enough?
When it comes to his in-ring activity, Fury has been an exemplary champion.
He's never seemed in imminent danger of a loss in any of his five title-fight victories and has never needed to lean on a charitable official to get him out of an inconvenient jam.
But he's also a pretty unique and unpredictable guy.
It's sometimes difficult to gauge just how seriously he takes his job while he's dabbling in the WWE or engaging windfall-seeking cage fighters. And his suggestion that he'd just as soon be chasing a bout with Ngannou's UFC successor, Jon Jones, at least ought to raise an eyebrow or two now that he's matched with his most decorated in-ring opposition.
It'll probably be a non-issue. But if Fury arrives in December and doesn't seem prepared for what it'll take to beat a foe as good as Usyk, remember where you read it first.
Usyk X-Factor: Can He Perform on the Biggest Stage?
There's no getting around it. Usyk's got a big mountain to climb here.
Not only is Fury vastly larger than anyone the Ukrainian has ever encountered in a boxing ring, he also possesses a sublime skill set that'd be a trial regardless of his size.
It's one thing to stand across from guys like Joshua, who's big but raw, or Dubois, who can be kindly described as one-dimensional. Usyk's toolbox alone puts him on level ground with those two, but Fury is an entirely different animal when it comes to talent.
Much of the debate about Usyk's chances for success when he moved to heavyweight focused on the large men in the upper echelons of the division. And while it's true that he's managed to handle the flotsam and jetsam side of things ably enough, Fury's different.
When he realizes the same tricks that foiled Joshua and Dubois don't have the same impact on the unbeaten WBC champ, it'll be fascinating to see what Usyk comes up with for Plan B.
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