Tyson Fury’s close friend Billy Joe Saunders has had his say on the heavyweight’s upcoming fight with Oleksandr Usyk – and doesn’t think it’s as plain sailing as some do.
Former champion Saunders has recently announced his intention to come back to fighting having had two years off since losing to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. When he does so, he’ll likely tae inspiration from Fury’s journey back to the sport that saw him become a two-time world heavyweight champion.
Following two wins over Deontay Wilder and two defences of the WBC belt, Fury has found himself in a position to fight for undisputed status in the heavyweight division – the man in the other corner being elite Ukrainian, Usyk.
Speaking to Upfront with Simon Jordan, Saunders assessed the match-up between the two, which is set to take place in Saudi Arabia with a date yet to be confirmed.
‘Usyk causes him problems, but don’t beat him, Usyk causes any fighter and any heavyweight on the planet serious problems, but Tyson Fury, he’s got the key to his lock.
It won’t be a one-sided beat down until at least six rounds are out the way, but for six rounds Usyk is a dodgy, dodgy character for anybody.”
Both men are undefeated, and Usyk is coming off a second defence of his unified titles against Daniel Dubois.
For the date of the four-belt fight to be made official, Fury first must get through MMA star Francis Ngannou on October 28, something the vast majority of fans and pundits feels he will have no problem doing.
His championship rival will be ringside for the bout.