Is Fury really favourite againt Usyk?
Fury's wins aren't aging well & his best win just got dominated by Parker.
Struggled & had a blood face vs Wallin, whom Joshua just easily dominated & made quit.
Not to mention Fury did everything to postpone & duck this fight.
The triangle theory doesn't apply in boxing, so going straight to Fury and Usyk - it depends on how serious Fury will approach his preparation, as he is very inconsistent. Another question is how tough will Usyk be after seeing him KOed unofficially. But maybe Usyk is now the favourite or it is 50:50
Fury will still have 50 pounds on him.
I know he looked weaker than Ngannou but fair enough. Look at Ngannou. I think he was Fury's heaviest ever opponent and certainly his strongest ever opponent. Heavies are different. Ngannou was embarrassing but maybe it shouldn't be. A top MMA heavy was likely to be able to make a better transition than a small man.
I do think Usyk is a better boxer than Fury. Of course he is. But if Fury is fit and focussed and in the zone he's just a massive lump who knows what he's doing in there. Ironically Ngannou showed that himself.
Then the deciding factor will be whether Usyk can hurt Fury. Surely he can't beat him to the punch all night and not get zapped, pushed around and beaten up a bit.
Never know with Fury. I've always expected his last appearance to be an absolute shocker where he doesn't care. Wakes up that morning and says f.uck this.
And gets chinned.
So I'd probably have a little bet on the most shocking outcome. Usyk KO.
Usyk is a better boxer in terms of textbook skills but the reason I favoured a prime fury was that I belive he was a more versatile fighter than Usyk, I think Fury's ability to adapt and employ dirty tactics would have been the difference because Usyk similar to lomachenko doesn't cope well with that and you can disrupt their rhythm.
I don't think dirty tactics are a bad thing, Ali, Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield, Foreman, all of them did it and it's part of the game at the top level of heavyweight boxing.
I'm expecting Usyk to win though, Fury has looked on the slide to me since Wilder 2, and his biggest issue is his feet have slowed right down, so what he's left with is he's going to have to try and control the range just purely based off getting his jab landing early in the fight, and I don't think he will be able to consistently enough, do it'll be Usyk raiding and Fury won't be able to follow him out and impose his size.
With that said every time I've picked against Fury he's won and usually in dominant fashion so I can't confidently pick against him.
Fury will still have 50 pounds on him.
I know he looked weaker than Ngannou but fair enough. Look at Ngannou. I think he was Fury's heaviest ever opponent and certainly his strongest ever opponent. Heavies are different. Ngannou was embarrassing but maybe it shouldn't be. A top MMA heavy was likely to be able to make a better transition than a small man.
I do think Usyk is a better boxer than Fury. Of course he is. But if Fury is fit and focussed and in the zone he's just a massive lump who knows what he's doing in there. Ironically Ngannou showed that himself.
Then the deciding factor will be whether Usyk can hurt Fury. Surely he can't beat him to the punch all night and not get zapped, pushed around and beaten up a bit.
Never know with Fury. I've always expected his last appearance to be an absolute shocker where he doesn't care. Wakes up that morning and says f.uck this.
And gets chinned.
So I'd probably have a little bet on the most shocking outcome. Usyk KO.
I d like the bookies to have fury favourite, but Fury might perform better as underdog. I wonder if fury minds he might be offended if he was underdog.
But id say usy k was faviurite. Nowadays bookies don't put someone favourite because they're bigger do they?
Fury is actually younger than Usyk.
Theres a massive difference between a disciplined super athlete who's never been out of shape in his life and a guy who routinely blows up 50-100lb overweight and is a heavy recreational drug user.
Anyway to answer your question, in my opinion no, Fury is not the favourite nad it's more to do with the form of Usyk and Fury rather than anything their former opponents have done.
It's very obvious that Usyk is far better preserved than Fury, I belive that Fury will need a career best performance or very close to it to win, whereas Usyk just needs a decent performance. I'm expecting a Usyk win.
With Fury I feel some things are just gone now, due to his lifestyle over the years and his age.
I.e. his balance and physical strength. You could also tell in the face off with Usyk when he tried to bully Usyk and Usyk just shoved him back, showing he has far greater core and back strength than Fury.
Fury has to
a) get himself in shape
b) work a lot on his conditioning for the immense pace that Usyk can set in later rounds (I actually think this will be his biggest problem against Usyk, he has never faced anybody who can set a pace like Usyk and this at the back end of his career..)
c) improve his strength
d) work on his defense. He hasn't the reflexes or the footwork anymore.
e) work on the right tactics vs Usyk. The 'leaning on' tactics are now well known and Usyk is preparing against it (hinted at it).
That is a lot to work on in one training camp.
All this at his age and his last real serious fight will be 2,5 years ago when he faces Usyk.
So...I wouldn't call him favorite for this fight, no
Fury is actually younger than Usyk.
The odds are much closer than they were earlier in the year for obvious reasons. My sportsbook has Usyk at +135 and I would not be surprised if the line gets tighter. Will probably drop some at +200 Usyk decision.
With Fury I feel some things are just gone now, due to his lifestyle over the years and his age.
I.e. his balance and physical strength. You could also tell in the face off with Usyk when he tried to bully Usyk and Usyk just shoved him back, showing he has far greater core and back strength than Fury.
Fury has to
a) get himself in shape
b) work a lot on his conditioning for the immense pace that Usyk can set in later rounds (I actually think this will be his biggest problem against Usyk, he has never faced anybody who can set a pace like Usyk and this at the back end of his career..)
c) improve his strength
d) work on his defense. He hasn't the reflexes or the footwork anymore.
e) work on the right tactics vs Usyk. The 'leaning on' tactics are now well known and Usyk is preparing against it (hinted at it).
That is a lot to work on in one training camp.
All this at his age and his last real serious fight will be 2,5 years ago when he faces Usyk.
So...I wouldn't call him favorite for this fight, no