In this week’s mailbag, we tackle a pair of topics related to the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk rematch (Fury’s legacy and his best possible strategy); a pair of your takes on Floyd Schofield following the lightweight contender’s most recent victory; plus letters about Katie Taylor being the gold standard of women’s boxing, Jaron Ennis being a disappointment at welterweight, Jesse Rodriguez being relegated to the sidekick role underneath other fighters, and whether Errol Spence has again set himself up for failure.

 
Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.

 

TYSON FURY’S LEGACY WILL BE DECIDED BY OLEKSANDR USYK REMATCH RESULT

It's going to be very, very heavily weighted for calculating Tyson Fury's place among his fellow heavyweight greats. A very, very important fight for his legacy.

 

Being bounced off the floor like a basketball by Deontay Wilder, holding the linear title hostage due to inactivity, playing around with a harmless MMA champion, and dropping a squeaker to the skilled and resourceful Oleksandr Usyk can all be overlooked — and will be — if Fury regains the title in style.

 

But if he loses this rematch, he sinks clearly below the real great ones forever. It's just like that.

 

-Willow The Wisp

 

Tris Dixon’s response:  I can’t see Tyson Fury not getting into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. 

I agree that his resume is shallow given his reputation, and the Wilder results depend on how highly you regard Wilder, I guess. The first fight was incredible given where he was in his comeback, and I felt Fury was robbed of victory. He was brilliant in the second fight. The third was Fight of the Year. I was impressed with Fury’s win against Dillian Whyte. That might have been him at his best. The Francis Ngannou fight was always going to be a no-win for Fury – though perhaps his bank manager would argue contrarily.

 

If, however, Fury beats Usyk well, widely, or even stops him, that will likely be his signature win. It will certainly mean he’s defeated both every fighter he has faced in the pros and the best fighter he has faced in the pros.

 

There is still a huge appeal in the UK for a fight between Fury and Joshua. It won’t mean what it would have meant a few years ago to people like you and me, but it would fill a soccer stadium, and a win over Usyk and then victory over Joshua would make Fury’s resume much more favorable.

 

 

BAM RODRIGUEZ RELEGATED TO SIDEKICK ROLE UNDER MATCHROOM BOXING

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is an [idiot] to take Eddie Hearn’s offer. He's pretty much a sidekick, not getting paid as much but fighting tougher competition while Jaron “Boots” Ennis acts like a draw while fighting trash in a dead division.

 

-Groin Grabber

 

Tris Dixon’s response: There is a lot of negativity about Hearn in the United States. With Bam, he is very much needed to support a show that was otherwise a tough sell without him. That’s not Hearn’s fault. That’s the IBF’s for giving Boots a rerun of a fight he already won easily.

 

Time will tell for Bam, but as long as he keeps winning, I think he will find himself in some more big fights. As a boxer, he doesn’t strike me as someone who does not want to test himself. I’m sure he and trainer Robert Garcia will want all of the smoke — and they will be pushing Hearn to deliver the most meaningful fights. 

 

You can’t forget the possibility of him showing up on a bill in Riyadh in a huge fight, and he does great business in Phoenix, which is promptly becoming one of the world’s best fight cities, so I’m sure he will have options. A key thing is activity. This mandatory defense against Pedro Guevara is not necessarily a fight we wanted, but Bam is keeping his tools sharp, and he’ll be ready to go again in early 2025.   

 

FLOYD SCHOFIELD HAS A POSSIBLE PATH FORWARD

Floyd Schofield has a lot of career upside if he can use his boxing ability and stay out of too many slugfests. Fast hands, a fighter's demeanor, and refreshingly candid post-fight interviews had me entertained.

 

-Left Hook Louie 

 

Tris Dixon’s response: I like Schofield for what he brings in and outside the ropes. As you say, sometimes we just need guys to get their hands dirty and, perhaps more pertinently, guys who aren’t afraid to do that. Of course, too many slugfests are not good for longevity, but the fact Schofield is already calling out the likes of Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis indicates to me that Schofield might not be thinking about boxing for another 10 years already. 

 

The sport will be a brighter place if he does. That post-fight interview showed what boxing needs. I’ve always said it would be boring if everyone was the same, and Schofield has done a great job of setting himself apart from his peers.

 

FLOYD SCHOFIELD DOESN’T DESERVE THE HYPE

Floyd Schofield is overrated as hell. I see why Shakur Stevenson was laughing. This guy has so much developing to do, it's not funny. All that in-close switching and being confused is crazy also. Schofield isn’t ready for any of the top guys after fighting this basic fighter [Rene Tellez Giron] and just looking OK. 

 

-Hitmanjosh

 

Tris Dixon’s response: The thing with Schofield is he has time on his side. He’s 18-0 (12 KOs) and only 22 years old. He clearly has skills, but if managed and matched properly — fighting three times a year with the right fights as he matures, learns and improves — imagine where he could be in three years. He would be 25 years old and 27-0 if he wins them all. Yes, I realize he’s only fought once this year, but Schofield might become a much more rounded fighter.

 

I agree that talk of Schofield facing the big guns at 135 is otherwise premature. But I’m all for a strong, deep division, and the emergence of Schofield is another bright spot at lightweight. Credit to Giron, too. He is tough.

 

KATIE TAYLOR IS THE TOP STAR IN WOMEN’S BOXING, FAR AND AWAY

There is only one female fighter who commands the title of “Golden Girl” (“‘Golden Girl’ Gabriela Fundora becomes boxing's youngest undisputed champ”). And it isn't’ Gabriela Fundora. It's Katie Taylor. All other female fighters can thank Katie Taylor for the money they now receive fighting. So until Katie retires, this girl can stay in the queue.

 

-pad

 

Tris Dixon’s response: Katie has been outstanding for women’s boxing — and boxing on the whole. She is a wonderful poster girl for the sport and carries herself brilliantly. She has also been in a number of excellent fights, is fan-friendly and has faced some of the best opposition. 

 

In Ireland, she is a brand of her own, but I’m not sure she gets similar fanfare elsewhere. That said, let’s see what her rematch against Amanda Serrano on the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson show in Texas does for Taylor’s profile. It could really be a gamechanger.

 

With that said, there is room for more than one top female fighter, as I’m sure Claressa Shields would agree.

 

ONCE AGAIN, ERROL SPENCE ISN’T DOING HIMSELF ANY FAVORS

Does Errol Spence really want to continue fighting? He's made the same mistake of being too inactive again. I get it: Terence “Bud” Crawford beat him up. But you can't be too inactive and expect to be effective.

 

-Lefty0616

 

Tris Dixon’s response: Errol Spence didn’t sound too convincing to me about his future or his recent past when we spoke in Las Vegas earlier this year. I don’t think his inactivity will help him at all. Even Spence himself probably doesn’t know what he has left, and he might not be given a true answer if he again goes in at a high level for his return – if it happens.

 

I’d much rather Spence take a couple of lesser fights and warm to the task again. But when you get to that level, you only want certain money. And an eight-rounder on an undercard isn’t going to pay the bills.

Of course, an Errol Spence at his best and on the rampage at 154 would be incredible for that stacked division. The odds are against Spence being at his best, however. His inactivity on its own is rough enough. When added to Spence’s catalog of trauma, the signs are not promising.

 

TYSON FURY NEEDS TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE IN OLEKSANDR USYK REMATCH

Tyson Fury needs a performance like he had in the Deontay Wilder rematch. Oleksandr Usyk can't handle pressure; Derek Chisora showed us that. Pressure him, fight him and run him down, and he will fold to the Gypsy King. Sadly I fear Fury may try to fight on the back foot again. Big mistake.

 

-RoadOfTheGypsy

 

Owen Lewis’ response: There are a couple pieces to this. First: that Fury needs the kind of performance he showed in his second fight with Deontay Wilder. Nothing went wrong for him on the day that he bullied Wilder. And Fury primarily did so by coming forward, which to many, seemed a suicide tactic beforehand given Wilder’s napalm-laden right hand. Wilder proved unable to fight going backward, leaving him a sitting duck for Fury’s right hand. It was a phenomenal gameplan. 

 

Which leads us to your second point: that Fury needs to do this against Usyk, and that Usyk has proven himself vulnerable to pressure. Here, I think you’re off base. The Chisora fight is often cited as the perfect game plan for fighting Usyk. But in rewatching it to answer this question, I thought Chisora’s mauling aggression was successful for all of two and two-thirds rounds. Then a sharp left hand from Usyk buzzed Chisora. The big man started to slow down, and Usyk more or less had his way for the rest of the fight. And while Usyk certainly seemed uncomfortable in that initial phase, at no point did he look significantly hurt.

 

Guess who was in attendance that night, watching keenly? Anthony Joshua. And guess who also failed to employ the come-forward, bullying strategy against Usyk for more than a couple rounds at a time, despite fighting him twice.

 

There’s a reason why no one has been able to steamroll Usyk. Multiple reasons, actually: He has fast, accurate hands capable of landing sharp counters. His elite footwork and fitness tires his opponents out quickly. And, though it’s less talked about than his other attributes, Usyk has one hell of a chin. I actually think Fury, despite his propensity for bizarre press conference answers, put it perfectly in an interview at the press conference for the rematch:

 

“If it was easy to walk Usyk down… that’s Anthony Joshua’s style, that’s Daniel Dubois’ style. They’re big, strong men who walk someone down with their hands up and batter them into submission and knock them out. They couldn’t do it [to Usyk]. My style is slickness, jabbing, moving, slipping and sliding. Why would I give that up to walk forward… it doesn’t make sense. I wouldn’t do it. All I’ve got to do to win this rematch is little, tiny adjustments. And I mean small adjustments.”

 

I think Fury is right. When he was in full flow in his first fight with Usyk, he arguably won five straight rounds (the third through the seventh), and in doing so not only hurt Usyk but made Usyk look more ordinary than ever before. Sticking to what worked before rather than adopting a radically different strategy — against a much more skilled opponent than Deontay Wilder, mind you — seems like the best bet. Perhaps Fury is hiding his true intentions, as is his wont, but I don’t think he’s mistaken in this line of thinking.

 

Now none of this is to say that the blueprint from the Wilder II fight can’t work against Usyk. If Fury sustains a torrid pace for four rounds and targets the body with venom, I can picture him putting Usyk under even more duress than he did in their first fight, and maybe knock Usyk down, for instance.

 

But I wouldn’t recommend this game plan to Fury. Unless he can get a stoppage, which seems extremely difficult given how tough Usyk is, that strategy will put Fury in deep trouble. If he gasses out, then Usyk will dominate. Then there’s the matter of Fury’s chin. In the first fight, Usyk not only showed he could hurt Fury badly but probably weakened Fury’s punch resistance significantly with that brutal salvo in the ninth round. By refusing to box from a distance, Fury would be walking his vulnerable chin into Usyk’s preferred range.

 

As for Chisora, the man who you say showed that Usyk can’t handle pressure? In a recent interview with TalkSPORT, he said that Usyk is too good to simply be beaten by a swarming style, that Usyk exhausts his opponents early in fights and, most notably, “100 per cent” will beat Fury again. Recall that Chisora has fought Fury three times and been stopped by him twice.

 

The second Wilder fight might be best viewed as an aberration, a great night against an opponent with enormous power but also clear limitations. Fury, at heart, is an extraordinary boxer, and in Usyk he is fighting another one. It’s no surprise, or a mistake, that the Gypsy King wants to fight in the style that suits him best.

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.