Looking ahead to Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk
Tyson Fury has the small matter of facing Francis Ngannou at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 28 before he can even start thinking about his already lined-up bout with unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
However, for boxing fans, The Gypsy King’s blockbuster clash with the unbeaten Ukrainian has more appeal. The contracts have been signed by Fury and Usyk, but the exact details of the bout are yet to be confirmed.
However, speculation is that it will be back in the Middle East and could take place as soon as December or January. The Gypsy King will, therefore, be hoping that he can come out of his upcoming fight with the former UFC heavyweight champion unscathed.
The Cameroonian is making his boxing debut after a glittering career in mixed martial arts, so it is no surprise the Fury Ngannou odds are in the Briton’s favour. But The Predator still packs a hefty punch and won 12 of his 20 professional fights by way of KO/TKO, so Fury cannot look beyond this fight.
We can, however. As already mentioned, Usyk vs Fury has far more appeal than the Gypsy King’s upcoming clash with Ngannou, and the majority of boxing fans will wish to just get that fight over and done with so they can look forward to the two best heavyweights in the world right now trading blows.
There is no denying he is a true great of the Blue Riband division, but Fury has left the majority of us underwhelmed in recent times.
When he completed his thrilling trilogy with Deontay Wilder, stopping the Bronze Bomber in the 11th round at the T-Mobile Arena to win the series 3-1, many thought he would go on to rule the weight class and show the likes of Anthony Joshua and Usyk that he is the best heavyweight in the game.
Fury didn’t really have a choice but to face fellow Brit Dillian Whyte in April 2022, as Usyk and Joshua were pencilled in for their second bout in August. But when the Gypsy King made light work of The Body Snatcher and Usyk dispatched AJ for a second time, the one fight the world wanted was Fury vs Usyk.
The Gypsy King went on to agree to a trilogy bout with old foe Derek Chisora though, a fight nobody asked for nor wanted to see. Fury went on to beat Del Boy for a third time in his career with a 10th-round knockout, but now pressure was mounting on the 35-year-old to actually step up and face a real challenge in the form of Usyk.
Talks to stage the blockbuster fight collapsed, despite reports that the Ukrainian was willing to accept Fury’s one-sided offer of 70-30, and Usyk was forced to fight mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois. That bout ended in controversy, however. Triple D appeared to knock down Usyk, but the referee deemed it a low blow and he recovered to knockout Dubois in the ninth round.
A shock victory for Ngannou could throw another spanner in the works. It would officially be Fury’s first defeat of his career, and he would probably like to avenge it should it happen. But with the WBC heavyweight title not on the line, there’s still hope that a bout with Usyk could take place first.
With Fury though, you just never know what is going to happen. We wouldn’t start looking forward to a fight with Usyk until all the I’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.
