Making sense of Tyson Fury’s thoughts is like boxing itself: a hazardous occupation.
But when the British WBC heavyweight champion showed up for fight-week festivities in Saudi Arabia this week looking downright trim, fight analysts’ heads began spinning.
Is he showing off a newfound sincerity to training after looking sluggish and escaping from former UFC champion Francis Ngannou despite getting knocked down?
Is he trying to match the fitness of the three-belt champion Oleksandr Usyk, whom Fury has nicknamed “rabbit,” and who he fights for undisputed status Saturday in Riyadh?
Or is he just playing mind games?
“He said a few years ago, ‘Stay fat. You’re better when you’re bigger,’” reminded ProBox TV analyst Chris Algieri on Wednesday’s episode of “Deep Waters.” “He used that weight (277 pounds) the second time against (former heavyweight champion Deontay) Wilder, bullied him all over the ring. He’ll still be bigger (than Usyk) by about 50 pounds, but I’m curious to see what he weighs.”
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Each fight is not the same, and so the “Deep Waters” panel were near a consensus in assessing that Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) is altering his fight plan for Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) to both match the Ukrainian’s fitness while imposing his height, reach and weight advantages when the purpose serves him best.
Fury will “try to be nimble early, then lean on his power and then pour it on in the end,” Algieri theorizes. “This tactical weight thing is on purpose. He wants to box smart early, get physical in the middle and finish strong at the end.”
Usyk, 37, certainly closed impressively to repeat a victory over former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2022, winning that rematch by split decision.
“Before Francis Ngannou, there was never a time when (Fury) tired out, or that we worried about his gas tank,” Algieri said.
Former two-division champion Timothy Bradley said there’s precedent from former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe to know there’s risk for an older fighter – Fury is 35 and has been knocked down five times in bouts dating to 2018 – to slash weight before a big bout.
“Go back and watch Bowe-(Andrew) Golota 2 … Bowe lost a lot of weight and was weak,” Bradley said.
The panel expects Fury to weigh in the 260s, perhaps as low as 260 pounds.
“He’ll have his power, speed and the ability to move, but as for age, (while) Fury is a little younger, but with everything he’s been through during the totality of his career (the knockdowns and a mental-health bout that left him battling alcohol, drug and food addictions before fighting Wilder in 2018) …,” Algieri said.
Bradley added, “Usyk has been disciplined all through this … he’s been preparing for this moment his whole life and he is ready. He’ll give everything he has.”
The reason the bout is effectively a pick-em, however, is that Fury possesses so many advantages over the tightly focused Usyk.
“The best Tyson Fury versus the best Usyk? Tyson Fury has more skills,” Bradley said. “He can switch to southpaw, box off his back foot, has a seven-inch reach advantage, has good punching power, throws great combinations, better timing and he’s taller and longer. He has more tools.”
Usyk is such a remarkable technical fighter.
It’s just that, “he has to follow a tight script, which he has before.
“You ask me who has a better chance to win? I’m going to say Tyson Fury.”