Looking like Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is going to happen

[True Dough]

Would be interested in hearing opinions on this. Fury is the MUCH bigger fighter. A win by Usyk, who possesses tremendous skill, would be the pinnacle of his career.

But Fury has incredible combinations, tremendous punching power and excellent footwork and head movement. That said, it's hard to imagine he would get full credit should he defeat Usyk because he would be vanquishing a considerably smaller opponent.

Oleksandr Usyk refused to be intimidated once he entered the land of the big men. But after aggregating every world title in the cruiserweight division, the Ukrainian set his sights on repeating that feat one division higher.

Thus far, the former Olympic gold medalist has been just as dominant. With wins over Chazz Witherspoon, Derek Chisora, and back-to-back triumphs against Anthony Joshua, the latter resulting in a unified heavyweight reign, Usyk is now the proud owner of the WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF titles.

Nevertheless, even with most of the heavyweight straps in his possession, Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) knows good and well that until he defeats WBC titlist, Tyson Fury, he won’t be viewed as the best fighter in his weight class.

By all accounts, the 34-year-old from Manchester, England, is all for an undisputed clash with his current rival. However, considering that Usyk isn’t one of the biggest heavyweights around, Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) has a difficult time envisioning him standing up to his offensive onslaught.

https://www.boxingscene.com/tyson-fury-admits-an-usyk-showdown-walk-park--171520

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended.

Great respect for both men. It will be an interesting fight if it happens -- and it appears likely it will.

Usyk is not a big heavyweight in today's division. It's interesting, as he is bigger than Sonny Liston was, and when I was young, Liston was considered huge. Usyk has outstanding boxing skills, and above average punching power. This is partly because of his timing, and ability to hit opponents with punches they don't see coming. And his defensive skills in the ring are outstanding, as Anthony Joshua found out in their two fights. Add to that his top-level endurance, and you have an undefeated champion that it would be difficult to bet against.

Since moving up from cruiserweight, he has four fights at heavyweight. The first was a technical decision over Chazz Witherspoon, the nephew of Tim. Chazz had been in the top 15 of the division previously. I'd been at a couple of his fights. He was TKOed in a 2012 fight for a minor title, won a few, then was inactive for several years. When he came back, he had only fought low-level guys before Usyk. But at his best, Usyk beats Chazz, as they are at very different levels.

Then Usyk had a really tough time with Derek Chisora. He got hurt in the fight a few times, and Chisora's physical strength gave him a lot of trouble. But he pulled out a close win in the last two rounds. Next came the two fights with Anthony Joshua, both of which he outclassed his bigger foe. Joshua is a fine heavyweight, for sure, but he hasn't recovered mentally from his upset loss to Ruiz. In the months between their fights, I talked a lot with Tim Witherspoon, who would be the perfect trainer for Anthony. Tim did go to England to try to become Joshua's trainer, but didn't get the spot. Now, I'm not saying if Tim trained him -- mentally & physically -- he would have won the rematch. But he would have fought correctly, and had a real shot at it.

Fury is 6 inches taller, and has a seven inch reach advantage. He has solid ring skills. It's not a coincidence that he is undefeated. Those combine o make it hard for opponents to prepare for him, as he is unlike any other fighter. Since taking Manny Stewart's nephew as his trainer, he has become a much more aggressive fighter, making full use of his size.

Now, in training, if you do rounds on a 150 lb heavy bag, you get more tired than on a 100 lb bag, even with the exact same routine. (Thus, Rocky Marciano used a 250 lb heavy bag!) Fury knows that his opponents will tire faster than they anticipated going into the ring. That plays into the mental game. Add to that him running his mouth (!), and opponents ALWAYS want to punch his face. Easier said than done. Usyk might be the first to focus on his body. Yet there is a price to be paid when trying to get inside on this giant. Even if he just clinchesand leans on you, it wears you out. And having a taller opponent walk you backwards in clinches empties the gas tank. (Holyfield vs Tyson, first fight.)

Usyk has really good head movement. Tim would have had Joshua jab to his chest -- that makes the opponent stationary for a second, while bringing their head back into range. Fury has a good jab that he works to the body, which will be a problem for Usyk. He'll follow up on it, then push Usyk backwards. And Hill has taught Tyson how to use his full punching power coming forward. At the same time, Usyk is a highly intelligent fighter, and will use his ability to cut corners on the inside -- mocing to his right, I'd assume, rather than to his left. As a southpaw, that allows him the same positioning as Manny Paciquiao used in his fights. (Floyd took that away from Manny in the first two rounds, which is why Manny's fans were disappointed that it wasn't the fight they expected. Floyd countered with short, crisp right hands, timed perfectly. That makes the opponent hesitate to try their favorite move!)

I favor Fury, but you never know until that first bell rings what will unfold.

[True Dough]

2. Man, was this reply worth waiting for!

Such an insightful breakdown, H2O Man. And lots of trivia thrown in. I had no idea that Usyk, a "small" HW by today's standards would have been bigger than Liston. Some of today's fighters are such monsters physically.

And I did not know that Rocky Marciano used a 250 lb heavy bag. Smart!

Loved the technical observations as well.

I'm glad both combatants are close in age (Usyk is 1.5 years older at 36). It's unfortunate when we see a well-past-his-prime champion or former champion pitted against an up-and-coming young and hungry lion and you can only wonder how the outcome of the fight would have changed had the champ/former champ only been 10 years younger.

That said, Usyk has a legendary amateur record, reportedly 335-15 (350 amateur bouts). That's phenomenal. Now perhaps all of those fights were in headgear and Usyk didn't sustain a lot of damage. But don't you think Father Time is more likely to catch up with someone so active first? That's a lot of wear and tear, a lot of "miles" on the body.

It has not shown to date. Usyk has generally looked sharp, but I wonder if he'll be more prone to a sudden decline at some point due to all of those fights as a young man?

[H2O Man]

3. Good points & question.

Usyk definitely had a lot of fights as an amateur. Like Vasiliy Lomachennko, the best amateurs from that region have a lot, including at the international level. The Ukraine amateurs sprogram is very similar to Cuba's. Keep the best extremely busy, fighting as frequently as possible to stay sharp. To do that, like the Cubans, it takes a great defensive ability, or else they would have taken way too much punishment. (Headgears mainly proct the ears, and prevent cuts .... but punches still hurt like hell. My brothers & I had a friend who died from an amateur fight, when he was put in way over his head, about 50 years ago.)

They fight the best in the world on the big stage, but also get a lot of fights with guys that are on a lower level. There aren't enough top guys to fight 300+ bouts at that level. So they include mid- and lower-level guys, and that is often to develop and practice their defensive skills with, while outpointing or stopping the guy. That still takes a toll on the body -- as does sparring and other preparations for fights.

A huge factor is the trainer, both in the gym and corner, as well as the referee and ringside doctor. It's just my opinion, but too many pro fights are allowed to go on too long. It happens in the amateurs, too, but not as frequently as it did when my brother and I fought. But I like both Usyk and Fury's trainers. I don't expect either to continue for much longer As Marvin Hagler said, it's hard to get out of your bed at 3 am to do roadwork, when you are sleeping in silk sheets. I don't think either has sustained serious head injuries, though they have taken punches that aren't good for any brain to take. But I'll add to Hagler's point that it gets harder when all your joints ache.

I fought over 300 times, while my late brother had about 85 bouts total. With each of us, it included fighting a wide range, from skilled fighters to club fighters. My brother had good defensive skills, until he took the first punch. Then he forgot them. He won the majority of his fights, around 85%, but he took a heck of a lot of punishment. He had a rough time as the result starting in his early 30s, and it eventually put him down for the count. I had a 99% rate of victory, and took relatively few punches. In a lot of fights, opponents didn't land a single clean punch. But these days, I feel it in my joints, and especially my left ring finger, which I broke several times. Too stupid to get it set correctly when I was young, and did it myself. Yikes! But my mind is relatively normal, I think!