Trainer Malik Scott says Oleksandr Usyk’s speed increases his power because his opponents cannot see his shots coming. Also, the angles Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) uses to throw his punches are ones that his opponents don’t expect, and they’re taken by surprise.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) has to be concerned with the speed of IBF/WBA/WBO Usyk’s punches on Saturday night because he’s been hurt many times in his fights, and knocked unconscious.
If Fury’s punch resistance isn’t up to par on Saturday night, he’ll be susceptible to getting knocked out. Unlike in Fury’s third fight against Deontay Wilder, he can’t count on Usyk gassing out early after hurting him.
Fury and Usyk are meeting for the undisputed heavyweight championship this Saturday, May 18th on DAZN PPV and ESPN PPV at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“You Don’t See the Shots Coming”
“You don’t see the shots coming. You think they’re hard. No, they’re not. You don’t see the shots coming because they’re so fast,” said trainer Malik Scott to the Sean Zitttel YouTube channel about Usyk’s punches being damaging despite not having power due to his speed.
“You’re thinking he’s a hard puncher, but they’re really not. You just don’t see the shots coming. So now you’re thinking he’s a hard puncher. That’s the psychological game of the Usyk system. He hits guys with shots they don’t see coming, and then he makes them respect him.”
The odd angles that Usyk throws his punches from also help increase his power. He doesn’t look like he’s got power, but when he loads up on his shots, he does damage.
The Hidden Danger
“They respect him like he’s a hard puncher. He’s not really a hard puncher, but he hits you with a shot that you don’t see, which is the equivalent of a hard-punching because the ones you don’t see are the ones that hurt you,” said Malik.
Fury is likely to use dirty tactics in this fight, with his holding & hitting, throwing rabbit punches, and using elbows. If Usyk gets hurt by one of those illegal shots, he can’t expect any sympathy from the referee to stop the action and give him a time out and penalise Fury.
David Haye Predicts Usyk Win, But Fears Draw
“So, I definitely think on points, Usyk, but I think it’s going to be a draw. Usyk is going to win on points, but it’s going to be a draw. One judge having it for Usyk and two judges having it even,” said David Haney to BoxNation, predicting that Oleksandr Usyk will be given a raw deal by the judges against Tyson Fury on Saturday.
It’s not like we haven’t seen Fury get the benefit of the doubt and be given a robbery win. Fury’s last fight against Francis Ngannou was a clear robbery in the eyes of fans.
“I think it’s his size. If you had a pound of Usyk and a pound of Tyson Fury, Usyk beats him. He’s more skilled. He’s a better amateur, an Olympic gold medalist, cruiserweight champion. He’s had more fights, more world title fights, won more rounds,” said Haye.
Usyk has way better skills than Fury, but he’s a lot smaller and doesn’t have the kind of knockout power that Wilder and Anthony Joshua do.
Usyk’s Strategy
“So, I think the advantage Tyson Fury has is his size. The fact that he’s able to absorb the punch because he’s heavier. He’s got longer arms. He’s able to lean away from shots that he normally wouldn’t be able to do if they were the same size.
“So, I think the general size and weight and durability is a disadvantage for Usyk. Usyk is going to need to move back and forth to security a victory here,” said
Haye.
