Tyson Fury will be allowed to fight with his long beard against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk this Saturday night. Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) opted not to shave and was given the green light to compete with a lumberjack-looking beard.
Usyk's team reportedly protested about his beard and wanted Fury (36) to shave it off, but he has no intention of doing so. His reasoning for having a long beard is not clear, but some believe it helps cushion his beard and protects him from getting hurt again by Usyk's powerful left hand.
Why a beard?
Fans believe that the large chin additionally protects against blows to the chin, where Fury suffered in the first fight. If this is why Fury decided to keep his beard, it gives the impression of a desperate man willing to do anything to win.
The clean-shaven Fury was badly rocked in the ninth round by a left from Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) in their first fight on May 18, and was saved by the referee, who gave him a standing eight at the last moment. .
“He's got a beard, and there's been a lot of fighters over the years who've fought with beards, and that's it,” Fury's promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports Boxing.
Fury's decision to grow a long mountain beard suggests he is desperate for victory, looking for every possible angle to get the W on Saturday night against his former conqueror Usyk. Gyspy King must win to get the trilogy match against Usyk that Turki Alalshikh wants to happen.
Is Fury trying to please Turkey by having a beard? I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of Gyspy King's motives for growing a beard, along with a beard guard.
Fury Desperate
There's a lot of money in it for Fury if he can get a third fight with Oleksandr, with the two likely expected against Anthony Joshua.
We really don't know why Fury chose to fight with a beard, since he treated the rematch with Usyk differently than his previous fights. He claims he hasn't spoken to his wife Paris in three months since he started training camp. If true, it suggests that Fury is desperate to win and is going all out to get the win.
Fury looks like he's gone through an accelerated aging process since his defeat and you can tell the defeat has hit him hard mentally. People age under stress and Fury looks like it's been 10 years since his first fight with Oleksandr.
Given how desperate Fury is to win, let's hope he doesn't resort to fouling Usyk on Saturday night. Current and former fighters have stepped out of the box and recommended Fury turn Usyk around to help him win.