Usyk vs Fury 2: Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury look to settle their heavyweight championship rivalry | Boxing News

The length of the beard, the kissing of the cross, or who won the look seem such minor issues that arguing over them seems nothing more than petty.

But Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are the two biggest fighting heavyweights in the world today. And when it comes to their rivalry, they want to win on every score.

Fury had never lost as a professional boxer until he met Usyk in Riyadh earlier this year. That thunderous fight in May decided the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years and the first in the four-belt era.

It was Usyk who won a split but convincing decision to secure his place in the history books.

Fury now wants to regain the WBO, WBC and WBA world titles Sky Sports Box Office second leg on Saturday night. He wants to show that in the end there is no man to beat him, and he wants to extend his legacy – becoming the undisputed master of comebacks

So what's the point of a beard?

The argument was reportedly over whether Fury's full beard could soften the force of the punch or interfere with the path of the punch. It's conceivable, but when you consider that Usyk has now moved up to heavyweight and hurt Fury so badly in the first fight that only the ropes, in their famous ninth round, kept him from crashing to the canvas, it's unlikely to be problem for the great Ukrainian.

The debate is about something more. It's about Usyk's team looking to take one element away from Fury. The Brit has entered what he describes as “beast mode” for this training camp. His entourage reduced, Fury holed himself up in Malta for preparations barely speaking to his wife and family.

In Riyadh this week, leather-jacketed and bearded, Fury was belligerent and almost unapproachable to those outside his circle. He's coming because of the “war” he threatened at the weigh-in.

He wants to beat Usyk from the heavyweight division to return to the cruiserweight division. “They will have to,” Fury said Sky Sports. “I'm going to kick him real bad.”

This version of Tyson Fury, even more dangerous than before, should be an improved fighter.

“This time you will see a better one, I believe for sure. I believe that I will definitely be better than last time and I don't have to be much better because it was a very stiff fight,” he said.

The first fight was finely balanced. Back in May, Fury seemed to be enjoying the highest caliber of competition in the heavyweight division. Animated to enter the ring, he pointed in the ring and insisted that he was enjoying the atmosphere.

“I enjoyed the whole fight. The opportunity. Being in the ring. Great entrance, great entertainment. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic performance from me. Even watching it, I thought it was a great performance . good performance and I know I didn't get the W. But I still thought it was a great performance for me. From 1 to 10 I thought I did 10,” Fury insisted.

The exposure then could have been a mistake. He was doing it to show how good a boxer he is, to try to catch up and confuse Usyk, and maybe even buy himself space and breathing room.

It was a facade, a trick that Usyk did not fall for. He stuck to his job. He took his lick, painfully and for the first half of the fight, and just like he promised he would, he didn't leave Fury alone.

But eliminating that, with more enforcement and defensive tightening, could make all the difference. Although the Briton thought it was the best he had boxed in years, he must make some vital adjustments for the rematch.

“Sometimes you look at a fight and think I didn't do well, I could do better next time this, this and that,” Fury said.

“But for that way of boxing, I don't think I did anything wrong. I thought I put on a great performance and I know I've seen reports that Tyson's back down, that he's down and this and that, but I'm don't show it in to that fight if I did.

“I thought it was probably the best performance I've had in five years. Certainly since Wilder II, which was almost five years ago.”

It should be disheartening to think that he boxed almost as well as he ever did and yet suffered his first defeat. That shows how good Usyk is. But Fury seemed strangely energized by the challenge of facing him again.

If Usyk's team wanted to take the beard, a persona Fury has adopted, off his opponent, the Briton sought to remove the source of inspiration from his rival.

During the first fight, under intense pressure with tough and tough competition, Usyk sat in his corner between rounds, looking up at the sky and kissing the cross.

Usyk told the media this week: “This cross is a gift from the head monk in one of the Greek monasteries where I go. This cross gives me strength and leads me to victory.”

Whether he was led by the cross, or his own spirit, he stood out and carved a path to victory.

Of course, all it takes is a wrong camera angle and an unknown object pressed against a fighter's lips to fuel speculation. Therefore, Fury's team argues, any cross kissed in Usyk's corner should be taken for testing to negate suspicions.

That might be reasonable. But that dispute still hinges on a small matter, something Usyk wants and something Fury's side doesn't want to have.

These are just early skirmishes before the championship fight and the fight will not be decided by them.

Of course, Usyk has other sources of inspiration. He is religious, carries his country's flag with him and is proud to represent his people. He is also driven by the memory of his father, who never lived to become a world champion.

“Of course he is present. It could never be otherwise after everything he did for me. But now he comes less in my dreams, or practically doesn't come at all, because I said he shouldn't,” Usyk said of his father.

“But maybe he will appear closer to the fight. But I remember him, I think about him often, I look at his photos. He's always with me. I think he's still with me, he's sitting somewhere, maybe he's sitting behind this guy. so you can see me better .”

Usyk always keeps himself separate. He is a man who is difficult to read, who certainly engages, but always on his own terms. Fury likes to trap opponents in psychological games, but Usyk is the only one who never plays.

The Ukrainian strives to improve himself. He revealed some of his thinking when he told Sky Sports: “Life revolves in cycles. Either you try to live righteously and do the right thing, or you don't and end up a nobody.

“We are all flawed, we all have problems. To some extent we are all evil. But some of us at least try, we reach for something better. For God. While others don't even try.

“Here's how I would put it. The bee doesn't need to prove to the fly that honey is better than garbage. But the fly will always argue that garbage is better than honey.”

He reveals something of himself, but it also seems that the real Usyk is something well hidden behind the riddles.

While the battle of skill, technique and physicality between the two can only take place within the allotted 12 rounds of their bouts, the battle of wills has extended from the last bout to this one.

This was exemplified in the extremely prolonged staredown that both men were locked in after the final press conference.

It started out intense, went on so long that it started to feel absurd, and then went on even longer until it was glorious again.

You wondered what they saw when they stared at each other. They certainly didn't see the nervous crowd of men around them wondering how to intervene, how to separate the two without offending either fighter or causing an escalation that couldn't be contained.

They did not see themselves in each other. Both men are diametrically opposed characters, even if their pride and animosity are underpinned by a rarely expressed respect for their rival.

They couldn't see the future or the fight on Saturday night. If their minds were elsewhere, it would be easy for one to turn around and move on.

Instead, they only got to see that moment. Suddenly, everyone decided that he would not be the one to break, look first, or falter. So they stared and will continue to stare at the image they see of each other from now until the fight and as long as it lasts, until they see themselves at the end.

The big heavyweight rematch between Alexander Usyk and Tyson Fury will be live on Saturday 21 December on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Usyk v Fury 2 now!