The significance of Saturday’s heavyweight championship title rematch isn’t lost on Tyson Fury.
Writers and pundits have all been giving their thoughts on this event. It’s interesting how the narrative appears to be flowing.
Usyk has too good of an amateur pedigree.
Fury’s getting dropped by Usyk proves that Wilder broke his chin.
Fury’s best days are behind him.
It’s interesting that amidst all of these apparent truths, the first fight was incredibly close, with odds (at the time I placed by bet yesterday) leaning towards Usyk as a slight favourite at -110 and Fury being +125.
Usyk’s win back in February, coupled with consistent discipline throughout his career, make him a reasonable favourite.
Barely.
When we look at the worst of Tyson Fury, the narrative is terrible. One could choose to look at his personal life and recall when he went from defeating unified heavyweight champion Wladamir Klistchko in an upset, to ballooning to an unfathomable 322 lbs (23 stone) while battling excess and addiction. As a boxer, there was no more terrible a moment than seeing him as reigning heavyweight king struggle against his inactive MMA contemporary under Queensbury rules.
Fury’s comeback from addiction is well documented, when three fights later, he battled then undefeated WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder for the last belt needed on his trophy case.
While an unpopular draw would result in Fury needing another 14 months to claim that belt in a rematch, he would rebound from heavyweight obscurity and squandered potential to reign as king over the division once again.
Decreasing activity, combined with steadily declining opposition after Fury’s war with Wilder in their third match, made him prime picking for the hungrier and more fundamentally sound Usyk. While Fury entered the ring in better shape than he did in his sideshow performance against MMA champion Francis Ngannou, Usyk’s surprise knockdown in the 9th round of the heavyweight unification bout paved the road to victory for Usyk, and left Fury to contemplate the next step of his career now that he had lost his “0”.
Fury’s has always been the main promoter of his fights. However, in preparation for this contest, he has remained uncharacteristically quiet. However, since arriving in Riyadh, Fury has appeared focused and determined in a way that we’re not accustomed to. Gone is the boastful bravado and lighthearted brashness we’ve seen throughout his career; this is a man who has taken no shortcuts in training, and is hell bent on ensuring that the judges will play no role in the outcome of this contest.
I can’t help but reminisce on when at the advanced age of 36 years, a shop worn Muhammad Ali put in a reported 200 rounds of sparring in preparing for his rematch against Leon Spinks to make his last stand and become the first ever three time heavyweight champion of the world. Lennox Lewis would duplicate the feat in his own rematch against Hasim Rahman at the age of 36, twenty three years later.
Another 23 years have now passed, and another 36 year old former champion is on the cusp of writing his own history, and being crowned a 3x champion in his own right. Make no mistake about it, Usyk is no Spinks or Rahman. However, I’d rate the Fury who lost to Usyk more dangerous than the Lewis or Ali who were victorious in their respective rematches. Fury will look even better on Saturday.
I expect Fury is ready to give us one last great performance. It will be enough.
