Tyson Fury will enjoy a 55lb, six-inch size advantage over Oleksandr Usyk in their 12-round rematch on Saturday night. At Friday's weigh-in, Fury's 281lb weight on the scales made it clear that his second fight with unified heavyweight champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) will be different than their last.
Fury's game plan: use size
The 6'9″, 281-lb Fury looked like a giant during the face-off with the 6'3″, 226 lb Usyk during their face-off today. Unlike yesterday, Tyson quickly turned around after a few seconds and threw a few punches in the air towards the crowd to let them know what he had in store for Oleksandr on Saturday night in their title, live on DAZN PPV at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Former WBC heavyweight champion Fury (36) is a year and a half younger than Usyk, who will turn 38 on January 17. Fury's size and youth will make it difficult for Oleksandr unless he can stay out of range of his punches or his ability to grab him in his giant vacuum sledgehammer.
Fury is like a human version of a sea lamprey that weakens its prey in a vampiric fashion once it gets its hands on it. Usyk will have to tell on the move to avoid being worn down by the towering Fury.
“They both know they can hurt each other. Tyson has incredible recovery powers, as you saw in the ninth round. In the tenth and eleventh rounds Usyk could not use it, but in the 12th round Tyson got it. He ended up being the stronger of the two fighters,” Frank Warren told DAZN boxingtalking about Tyson Fury overcoming an injury to Oleksandr Usyk in their previous fight on May 18th.
“For me, the bell is going away. Whoever takes the center of the ring and pushes the other guy back, that guy is going to struggle. It's a kind of struggle. Tyson can do something Usyk can't, and Usyk is a great fighter. Tyson can fight on the back foot,” Warren said.
“Can Usyk not fight on the back foot, Alex?” commentator Ade Oladipo said to Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk.
“Usyk can fight any way he wants,” Krassyuk said. “Tyson has been saving his energy and it's not clear if he'll be able to do anything extraordinary.”