Deontay Wilder knows Tyson Fury the fighter better than anyone. Having fought Fury three times, over a total of 30 rounds of battle, Wilder knows how strong Fury is, how powerful he is, how good he is. And, like the rest of us, Wilder is interested in seeing how a fight between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk plays out. However, Wilder has already got as far as making a prediction on the fight that we all hope will happen (Fury as we know is asking for a gargantuan amount of money, and this may scupper the fight).
Speaking with ES News, the former WBC heavyweight champ who will make his ring return against Robert Helenius on October 15, says Fury is “too big” for Usyk, who he suggests has a “stamina problem.”
“I think Fury will be too big for him,” Wilder said of a potential Fury-Usyk clash. “He just uses his size all the time, no matter what, and a lot of other things. I think Usyk’s too small, that’s my opinion. I think Usyk has a stamina problem as well. You saw with Joshua, if Joshua had enough stamina it’d probably be a different result.”
It’s interesting, and at the same time a little odd, that Wilder feels Usyk has a stamina problem. We saw in the Usyk-Joshua rematch how Usyk, after a rough ninth round, came storming back at Joshua, winning the final three rounds of the fight. If that’s a stamina problem, all fighters could do with one. But Wilder says what he sees and plenty of people do agree with him when he says Fury is just too big for Usyk.
At an official 6’9” and approx 270 pounds, Fury will have major physical advantages over the 6’3,” around 221 pound Usyk. But will Fury have problems hitting the target against the constantly moving, he doesn’t allow you to get set, Usyk? This is just one of the questions surrounding this genuinely fascinating fight.
As for Wilder, if he can beat Helenius in his comeback, he may well be shooting for a shot at the Fury-Usyk winner. But right now, it’s all about Usyk and Fury. Let’s hope money issues do not prevent this fight from taking place. Just who is THE best heavyweight on the planet right now?
