Tyson Fury explains exactly why Oleksandr Usyk won't be able to beat him

28 October 2023 , 09:32

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Tyson Fury explains exactly why Oleksandr Usyk won't be able to beat him

Tyson Fury is convinced Oleksandr Usyk is too small to trouble him in their undisputed fight.

Fury and Usyk will clash in Saudi Arabia on December 23 - assuming the Brit avoids a freak defeat or injury against Francis Ngannou in Riyadh tonight. The winner of the Christmas showdown will be crowned the division's first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

And Fury has no doubt he can end the debate over who is the best heavyweight of his generation. "He could hit me with his best shots, up through the gloves, on the face, whatever, and I have the body mass to stand up to his arsenal, but he doesn’t have the body size to stand up to what I can dish out," he said.

“His body frame won’t take my punishment but I can take his. He’s a 220lb man and I’m a 270lb guy – he will not stand up to what I will hit on him but I will always stand up to what he’s got to offer. If I wasn’t me and I was somebody else and I had to fight a 6ft 9in switch-hitter, 20 stone who can punch, counterpunch, get on the back foot, move, dance. How do you beat this man? Obviously everyone has tried to knock him out.

“I don’t really have trouble with southpaws either because I’m a big man and I get stuck right into them, double-handed. He won’t be able to move away from me in a 20ft ring. He might run away but I’ll chase him down, I’ve got fast feet that the other blokes don’t have. I will hit him and hit him and hit him and I’ll stop him. I guarantee it.

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“I think there’s a weakness with all heavyweights to the chin – forget the body, I want to knock him spark out to the face. I just think any of these smaller heavyweights are susceptible to giants.”

Fury and Usyk came face to face at a pre-fight dinner last night and will likely to do so again in the early hours of Sunday morning when they finally make their clash official. The fight had been expected to take place at Wembley six months ago but a deal could not be thrashed out. Usyk went on to defend his three belts against Daniel Dubois while Fury signed to fight Ngannou in a 10-round contest. But last month, Fury announced he had agreed terms with Usyk and that the fight would take place this year.

Martin Domin