Tyson Fury will be allowed to fight with his long beard this Saturday night against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Fury (34-1-1, 24 KO) opted not to shave, and he was given the green light to compete with the lumberjack-looking beard.
Usyk's team reportedly complained about the beard and wanted Fury, 36, to shave it off, but he has no plans to do so. It's unclear why he sports this long beard, but some believe it helps cushion his chin and protects him from being re-injured by Usyk's powerful left hand.
Why the beard now?
Fans believe a big beard provides extra protection against punches to the chin, which is where Fury was injured in the first fight. If this is why Fury chose to keep his beard, it gives a glimpse of a desperate man willing to do anything to win.
A clean-shaven Fury was rocked badly in the ninth round by a left from Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) in their first fight on May 18 and saved by the referee, who gave him a standing eight count just in time. .
“He has a beard, and there have been a lot of fighters over the years who have 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 absolutely desperate to win, looking for every possible angle to get the W on Saturday night against his former conqueror Usyk. The Gyspy King needs to win for him to get the trilogy match against Usyk that Turki Alalshikh wants to happen.
Is Fury trying to curry favor with Turki by having a beard? I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the reasons the Gyspy King had the beard, as well as protection for his chin.
Desperate Fury
There's big money for Fury if he can get the third fight with Oleksandr, in addition to the likely two that are expected to take place against Anthony Joshua.
We really don't know why Fury chose to fight with a beard, as 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 training camp began. If true, it suggests that Fury is desperate to win and is doing everything possible to achieve victory.
Fury seems to have gone through an accelerated aging process since his loss, and you can tell the defeat hit him hard mentally. People age in times of stress, and Fury seems like 10 years have passed since his first fight with Oleksandr.
Given how desperate Fury is to win, hopefully he won't resort to fouling Usyk on Saturday night. Current and former fighters have come out of the woodwork to recommend that Fury manhandle Usyk to help him win.
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