Ahead of tonight’s hugely anticipated heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, Carl Frampton had made another prediction as to how he sees the fight going.
This weekend will see the first undisputed showdown in the banner division for almost 25 years following Lennox Lewis being the last man to hold the honour back in 1999.
It’s a fight that has got many people split down the middle as both men are unbeaten. Usyk is in a fine run of form with wins over Anthony Joshua twice and Daniel Dubois, while Fury struggled with boxing novice Francis Ngganou last time out.
Speaking to Boxing Social, Frampton was asked how excited he was to see the first undisputed champion crowned for some time.
“Unless we get a raw, which isn’t out of the equation. You can make a case for both men winning the fight. The magnitude for the sport is massive, not just for the heavyweights, boxing as a whole, we can definitively say who the number one heavyweight on the planet is. Massive, massive fight, you can make and argument for both fighters as I’ve said, I’m genuinely buzzing for it.”
Frampton was asked if he still picked Fury, as he had before.
“Yep, but I’m not saying it with any air of confidence. You can make an argument for Usyk winning the fight but at this stage my mind hasn’t really swayed. We’re about a week out and it might change again when we get closer and when we see the guys and what they’re saying in fight week that might change my mind but I’m still edging towards Fury.
He was asked if size matters in light of Fury looking lean.
“Absolutely, a lot of the weight Tyson has is just weight, some of it is fat. Fury will still be the bigger, stronger man on the night. The fact he’s slimed down adds to the argument Fury will be aggressive and throw a lot and get on the front foot and bully him from the start. Usyk will be trying to move, punch out, his footwork is brilliant, but if I’m team Fury I’m saying be aggressive from the off and try and force the fight.”
He was then asked about the relevance of Fury being put down by a smaller man in Steve Cunningham many years ago.
“People are maybe looking into the Steve Cunningham fight too much. It was a long time ago. Fury is a much better fighter than he was. I don’t take too much from that performance. Fury is a proud man, he’s brave, he gets off the deck if he has to and he wins fights. Usyk will give him problems no doubt. It’s more than Fury just being big, but I think Fury will win the fight.”
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