Usyk is just under three weeks away from his undisputed fight against Fury but has been warned his style won’t be as effective against the Brit
Oleksandr Usyk has been warned that age isn’t on his side against Tyson Fury in their undisputed world title clash.
Heavyweight champions Fury, 35, and Usyk, 37, meet for all four belts on May 18 after their February date was pushed back when Fury was cut in one of his last sparring sessions. Former cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie has backed Fury to win as he thinks Usyk’s elusive style won’t be as effective because of his age.
“I think Fury should win,” Okolie told Mirror Fighting. “He’s a talented boxer, a big guy with a good boxing brain. I think he will be able to adapt if the fight is not going his way. I think Usyk is very good but a lot of the stuff he does well, I think he will struggle to do against someone with the size and skill level of Fury.
“I think he’s fallen into the heavyweight trap where his main attribute has been movement. He’s also not been as active in Fury in recent months. I think Usyk is a fantastic boxer but is style is based a lot on conditioning, slipping and pivoting round. I don’t know how that fairs in a fight that he has to go looking for Fury rather than Fury coming looking for him.
“Every time you bet against Usyk he’s come in and shown another side, but it’s the same with Fury. The age factor too, Usyk is now 37 so I don’t think he’ll have the same legs for the whole 12 rounds that he had when he was 29. If that plays a factor in the fight, he has to hold his feet more.”
Usyk has been out of the ring for eight months as he KO’d Daniel Dubois in his last fight to defend his unified world titles. Fury’s last outing took place just two months later as the Brit picked himself up off the canvas to controversially beat former UFC champion Francis Ngannou on points.
A major rule change was being proposed for Fury vs Usyk that would have seen six judges to score the fight instead of three. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman was worried about the possibility of a bad scorecard ruining the outcome, but his rule change was rejected by Fury’s American promoter Bob Arum.
