Comments Thread For: Did Tyson Fury have the wrong plan for Oleksandr Usyk?

[factsarenice]

Fury from Fury v Wilder 1 destroys Usyk. Have a look at version of Fury. Fury left everything in the ring after Wilder 3. Fury was the only one with the balls to fight wilder when Wilder was still a killer. What was it, 8 or 9 knockdowns over 30 something rounds. Casuals know sweet fuq all about boxing.

No offense, but Deontay Wilder only looked terrific punching out old men and in-house tin cans.... right up until he stumbled out of the PBC feeding trough and got exposed.
Again, I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings but that's the truth. Beyond the ridiculous outfit, what did Wilder ever have to leave in the ring? Wilder was a puncher, a one-trick pony with absolutely no skills or stamina or chin. Maybe he could leave his shoes but that's about it.

Just sayin...

[Ashman5000]

Fury from Fury v Wilder 1 destroys Usyk. Have a look at version of Fury. Fury left everything in the ring after Wilder 3. Fury was the only one with the balls to fight wilder when Wilder was still a killer. What was it, 8 or 9 knockdowns over 30 something rounds. Casuals know sweet fuq all about boxing.

There is no version of Fury that beats Usyk.

[MarbleFallsMauler]

Didn't matter what his plan was. Usyk understands what his opponent is doing and quickly adapts, even within rounds.

[Ind Ividual]

I think he didn't have the best strategy to start with and he didn't succesfuly make the nescessary adjustments in the following rounds.

[topo5358]

Fury's plan was sound, but Usyk is too good for "gimmicks" to defeat him. Fury came in heavy to fight dirty as it worked well with Wilder. His plan was to pull Usyk into clinches, bear-hug him and drop his weight on him. Usyk started tagging him with short, quick shots as Fury was trying to pull him into clinches. Short punches landed when Fury's hands were down and pulling Usyk towards him turned out to be quite "uncomfortable" to take. Fury also tried repeatedly hooking his hand behind Usyk's head and trying to pull his head down onto his uppercut which Usyk defeated by shoving Fury strongly away from him. Usyk had answers for Fury's dirty tactics and really, that was all he had to offer, because he wasn't going to outbox Usyk. End of story. I thought Fury fought well, not to get KO'd.

[topo5358]

factsareniceMon Dec 30, 2024, 6:3 PM
"No offense, but Deontay Wilder only looked terrific punching out old men and in-house tin cans.... right up until he stumbled out of the PBC feeding trough and got exposed. Again, I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings but that's the truth. Beyond the ridiculous outfit, what did Wilder ever have to leave in the ring? Wilder"

Wilder fights were a whole lot better to watch than most of the other HWs out there. He knocked down Fury several times in each of 2 different fights, even with Fury employing his usual dirty tactics, which he obviously felt he had to use to beat a man 50 lbs. lighter, who according to most on here couldn't box and was giving up 4" in reach. And these same folks who say Wilder can't box claim Fury is a "master-boxer." Yet Wilder knocked him down more times in those 2 fights than Ali was put down in his 60+ fight career against a virtual "murderer's row" of explosive punchers. Go figure. THOSE are facts. Wilder also defended his title 10 times, over 5+ years. Who's the last Champ to do that? How many defenses did Fury make? Oh, I know, Wilder didn't fight any Joe Fraziers or George Foremans, but damn, he at least fought, and fought a hell of a lot more than AJ or Fury.

[BrankoB]

I used to think that prime Fury with the right game plan would beat Usyk. I no longer hold that opinion. Usyk is just better than Fury in all departments and I honestly believe that if they fought 10 times, Usyk would always take over in the second part of the fight and won.

[crimsonfalcon07]

I never thought Fury was all that. I just don't think he's got more than a puncher's chance vs Usyk. A lot of his resume depends on Wilder, and Wilder was never a good boxer and those that know, know that I tend to defend Wilder more than most on here.

I'm also going to remind people that Usyk said he played possum in the Chisora fight to get AJ to fight him. And that's played dividends, because he got so many pundits and coaches and fighters thinking that they could beat him by trying to be the big man and bully him.

The simple truth is that there's still not a good gameplan to beat him. Fury tried to be the bigger man in both fights. He had some good success in the first fight using his reach on the outside to stymy Usyk, paired with the long guard and head controls, then shooting to catch him with the uppercut when he made it inside. But he didn't have the gas tank to hang with the smaller, faster man, and he wasn't good enough to bank sufficient rounds when Usyk took over, and nearly got stopped to boot. That was his best chance, as the favorite and A-side with the consequent judge favoritism, and he couldn't sustain and made that crucial error in 9 that made it impossible for all but the most corrupt judge (Craig Metcalf) to score in his favor.

In the second fight, he leaned hard into the notion that a bigger man could bully Usyk and came in heavier. 55 lbs heavier than Usyk, and in shape to last 12 still throwing good punches. But Usyk punished him when he came forward, because that just made it easier for Usyk to close distance and outwork him, and you saw that Fury was completely unable to clinch and lean on Usyk because Usyk was either pushing him back for large chunks of the fight, or using positional offense and defense to make it impossible to clinch. As Loma has shown in the past, accepting the clinch is optional.

That's why Usyk said the second fight was easier, and he told Kovalev that he felt he could even go for another fight that night. His ploy vs Chisora, who, let's face it, isn't even remotely in the class to threaten Usyk, and was at a sufficiently low level that it's entirely plausible that Usyk could have deliberately looked bad while still doing enough to clearly win, has paid even more dividends because it has made people think there's a blueprint for beating him that simply doesn't work.

I think it would take a skilled boxer with massive power and good speed (Zhang or Bakole maybe?) to maximize the puncher's chance, or someone young and quick enough to hang with him, such as Kabayel or Itauma, although both are currently far too raw to be a realistic threat IMO. I would favor Holyfield or Lennox Lewis, but Usyk has proven he's the kind of guy to fight anyone, anywhere, and find a way to win. I'm also interested in the Parker fight after Parker beats Dubois. Or a Dubois rematch if he can get past Parker, which I don't think he will. There's still some good fights available, but Usyk has proven finally that he should be the favorite no matter who he takes on.

[pollywog]

Andy Lee has been up close and personal with both Fury/Usyk fights.

If he sees a game plan that Fury, or no one else has used, Parker - after he's schooled Doobie -can implement it and beat Usyk.

Parker will easily be the best boxer Usyk has faced at Heavy.

[1Eriugenus]

'I think it would take a skilled boxer with massive power and good speed (Zhang or Bakole maybe?) to maximize the puncher's chance, or someone young and quick enough to hang with him, such as Kabayel or Itauma, although both are currently far too raw to be a realistic threat IMO. I would favor Holyfield or Lennox Lewis, but Usyk has proven he's the kind of guy to fight anyone, anywhere, and find a way to win. I'm also interested in the Parker fight after Parker beats Dubois. Or a Dubois rematch if he can get past Parker, which I don't think he will. There's still some good fights available, but Usyk has proven finally that he should be the favorite no matter who he takes on'.

I think you make a compelling case that no-one can beat Usyk. If he wants to hang around for, say, 15-18 months then Itauma might be ready but nothing before that. I like Bakole, I think he'd easily kill & eat DDD, but he doesn't have remotely the speed or skills to challenge Usyk. I agree with you that a peak Lennox or a peak Evander beats Usyk but, realistically, there is no-one around today of remotely that calibre.