Tonight brings us the anticipated rematch between the 2 best heavyweights on the planet in a fight too close to decide, but I'll break it down and give my thoughts on how it could play out….
If we go back to the first fight 7 months ago, Fury may have had the fight won in his head after 5 or 6 rounds as he cruised and a mix of Fury's showing and Usyk's ability to s Adapting in a fight was Fury's undoing on this occasion.
Ultimately, the turning point of this fight was the 9th round, which Usyk dominated and ended in a 10 – 8 round in favor of Usyk. If this round had been 10-9 for Usyk, the fight would have ended in a majority draw. It always comes down to fine margins at the top of any sport and I think Fury can adjust and correct the mistakes to get the job done tonight.
Make no mistake, Usyk is a generational great and is the only fighter who wasn't fazed by any of Fury's mind games, resulting in a more focused and cold-blooded version of Fury this time. All the games are over and it's a very different Tyson Fury.
There is no doubt that Fury has an excellent boxing IQ, as does Usyk, however, in terms of rematches, I heavily influence Fury in making the necessary adjustments to come back and improve more than Usyk. 2 notable rematches that saw massive improvement, the first being in 2009 against John Mcdermott where Fury won a razor thin decision, and many thought he could have lost.
In the rematch that wasn't immediate, but 3 fights and 9 months later, Fury won with a convincing 9th round stoppage. The most notable rematch was the second fight with Wilder. The first fight saw a vulnerable Fury recovering from a 12th round knockdown that resulted in a draw and, as with the Mcdermott rematch, Fury would face Wilder 3 fights later. The 2nd fight with Wilder ended with Fury annihilating him with a 7th round stoppage.
This rematch is different for a variety of reasons. Usyk is head and shoulders above Mcdermott and Wilder. This is an immediate rematch and both fighters are arguably past their prime and reaching the end of their careers. Make no mistake though, because in most of the great heavyweight wars, including The Thrilla in Manila in 1975 between Ali and Frazier in their trilogy, both fighters were past their prime and heading towards the end of their careers , it however had no impact on becoming one of the greatest matches in heavyweight history and I think this one could also live up to expectations.
If Usyk were to win, then I think this might be the last time we see both fighters in the ring, because what more could either fighter do. Fury would experience back-to-back defeats, Usyk has been unified champion in 2 weight divisions and has already beaten 2 top contenders including current IBF world champion Daniel Dubois and former world champion Anthony Joshua.
A Fury win would open the division up for either a trilogy with Usyk, a massive fight with Anthony Joshua, or another unified fight with the winner of Dubois V Parker, although if Parker wins that's a different story because Parker and Fury are very close, but the fact remains that a Fury victory will generate more money than an Usyk victory and that is a fact.
It is once again very difficult to determine how this match can be won and one very interesting statistic jumps out at me. Usyk has never been officially knocked down in his professional career to date, however, he was knocked down by unified light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev by a cruel body shot in the amateurs in 2011. This knockdown took place in the final round and the Another interesting statistic is that Fury won by knockout in every round except round 12.
My prediction is a 12th round stoppage for Fury because that stat screams to me and I think Fury will want to leave it all in the ring this time.
I can see this going to earn points, but I want to make a bold prediction and I'll put a few pounds on Fury in the 12th round KO.
What do readers predict…..?
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