Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk: B/R Staff Predictions
Some words in combat sports resonate more than others.
In Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk's universes, only one phrase matters: Undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Four belts will be unified with one man on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as the long-awaited unification bout between Fury and Usyk will finally take place.
The original February date was postponed due to an eye injury Fury suffered in training. Now, with the 35-year-old British fighter fully recovered, the two men will settle it all.
Will 34-0-1 WBC champion Fury add Usyk's belts to his collection? Or will the undefeated Ukrainian pick up the biggest win of his career?
The B/R Combat Sports team has been called together to provide its predictions.
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Fury Takes the Decision Over Usyk
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Finally, the stage is set for the undisputed championship bout in boxing's most glamorous division.
Sure, a few naysayers might claim the hype's taken a hit, but this one still has Fight of the Year potential.
Usyk has been biding his time after the initial postponement. But let's not forget, that while the 37-year-old sealed victory in his last outing against Daniel Dubois in August 2023, it wasn't exactly a showstopper. Some argue he dodged a bullet there and should have lost.
On the flip side, Fury appears to be in the best shape of his life, a much-needed transformation after his lackluster display against Francis Ngannou in October last year.
That third-round knockdown by the MMA star was a gut punch for boxing fans worldwide, but perhaps it served as a wake-up call for Fury.
So, I'm putting my money on the British fighter. Why? Because his footwork and hand speed are going to be too much for Usyk. This fight's going the distance, and Fury's clinching it with a majority decision.
Prediction: Fury by majority decision
- Douglas A. Brown
Usyk Remains Unbeaten After Taking Care of a Distracted Fury
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This isn't any slight on Usyk as a boxer, but a lot of this fight depends on the state of Fury coming into this match.
A focused, sharp Fury is the best heavyweight boxer of his generation. Go back to his destruction of Deontay Wilder in their third fight: a masterpiece and a combination of skill, power and determination in the face of one of the hardest punchers to pick up a pair of gloves.
And then ... there's the B-side.
There's the side to Fury that gets planted on his rear end by Ngannou, a mixed martial artist who had no professional boxing experience up until his fight against the Englishman.
That was Fury at his worst; lacking preparation, overconfident and vulnerable.
So, which Fury are we getting on Saturday? The hungry, determined champion? Or the distracted, arrogant and sluggish fighter?
We're betting on the latter.
There's no telling if the nasty cut over Fury's eye that postponed the fight originally is fully healed. And there's no telling if he is going to have himself all together for the chess-match-in-the-ring that is fighting Usyk, a cerebral boxer who is more likely to outpoint you than knock you out.
Fury could make me look foolish—wouldn't be in the first time, won't be the last—but the vibes going into this one are ominous for him.
Prediction: Usyk by unanimous decision
- Lucky Ngamwajasat
Focused Fury Bullies a Smaller Usyk to Unify Titles
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My man Lucky knows what he's looking at.
It's not at all hyperbolic to suggest Fury arrives at something less than Wilder rematch vintage and is bamboozled for 36 minutes by a guy with as good a blend of ring IQ and footwork as the heavyweight division has seen in a generation.
Usyk, at his best, is that good.
And Fury, when not at his best, can be that bad.
But I just don't see it here.
Though it's been more than four years since Fury pounded Wilder into a seventh-round submission and took the WBC belt in what was arguably his most impressive performance, he's still not been close to a loss against any subsequent foe he's taken seriously.
Largely (pun intended) because he's 6'9", weighs around 270 pounds and has a skill set unlike any ever seen attached to a man of that size.
They remain his biggest advantages against Usyk, too.
Lest anyone forget, Usyk's major wins at heavyweight came against a fundamentally challenged Anthony Joshua, a fighter Fury could outclass just as easily. His only other championship win was against Daniel Dubois, though the biggest takeaway from that title fight was a body shot that dropped Usyk but was called a low blow by referee Luis Pabon.
Fury is a significant leap up from that.
The assumption here is that the Gypsy King will be focused, conditioned and determined to reassert his status as the planet's best big man, and if that's the case, Usyk is doomed.
The Ukrainian may make things difficult at times simply because of his smarts, but it figures to look a lot more like Fury-Wilder II than Usyk-Joshua.
In other words, both one-sided and brutal.
Prediction: Fury by TKO, round 9
- Lyle Fitzsimmons
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