It’s always interesting and well worth listening to when Bernard Hopkins makes his pick ahead of a big fight. Fast approaching, as we all know, is the big return fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. And “The Executioner,” or if you prefer, “The Alien,” spoke with Fight Hub TV when breaking down the December 21 rematch that will go down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
And B-Hop said he feels Usyk will get the win again, that the smaller man is the cleverer man and that Fury will not be able to “keep up with and withstand” Usyk’s ring IQ as the fight progresses.
“No. No,” Hopkins said when asked if he thinks the fight will be any different this time. “I think the smaller guy is really the big guy in heart and the big guy in talent…..I believe Usyk has his number, and I believe that he’s not a big heavyweight, which I think helps him in this particular fight. I just think he has the IQ that Tyson Fury won’t be able to keep up and withstand as time or rounds go on. I like Usyk, possibly by stoppage late, and not from a punch, I think it will just be a mercy call by the referee.”
Hopkins may well believe, as do some of us, that Fury was this close to being stopped in that ninth round of the May fight between him and Usyk and that this time around, if Fury finds himself in a similar position during the fight, the third man will dive in and save him if he’s hurt and staggering all over the ring. It could happen. Fury was arguably more severely hurt in that ninth round than at any other time in his career.
Or might Fury come in with a better, smarter game plan this time? It’s a fascinating fight, a fascinating rematch. Hopkins doesn’t always get his fight picks right, and he is far from it, but his natural boxing brain is able to dissect a fight and its outcome.
Has Hopkins got it right here? How shocked would you be if Usyk did force the referee to come to Fury’s aid by preventing him from taking further punishment and stopping the fight with him still on his feet? How would Fury, a proud man, deal with such a defeat if it did happen to him?
Hopkins likes Usyk to win again, but he feels the skilled Ukrainian will go one better this time and stop Fury. Agree or disagree?
