Derek Chisora has made an intriguing suggestion ahead of this weekend’s undisputed heavyweight title showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, offering the latter a possible strategy to get the better of Fury.
‘Del Boy’ has faced Fury on three occasions in what is remembered as a rather pointless trilogy, first for the British title, then for the European and finally for the WBC world title, with Chisora being defeated on all three instances. Fury would later admit that he offered Chisora a third fight as he promised him the opportunity and wanted to give his friend a large ‘pay day’ before retirement.
Since then, Fury has fought just once, winning a controversial split-decision against debutant Francis Ngannou, who shocked the world when he dropped the Briton to the canvas in what was expected to be an extremely one-sided affair. Fury was then expected to fight Usyk for the undisputed crown on February 18th, but a sizeable cut caused a delay to the historic clash.
Chisora explained that despite the recovery time that Fury has had, the cut still play a significant role in the outcome of the fight and that he expects Oleksandr Usyk will likely target it and try to open it back up during the contest.
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“I want the British man to win 100 percent, but if you’re a betting man you’d have to think: this is the cut he had against Otto Wallin and it’s going to come back again. I think Tyson is going to have to box on his back foot. But then again he might drop Usyk with an uppercut.”
“The cut could play a big factor in the fight. Has that massive cut managed to properly heal? It can make sparring difficult, you’d be cautious to open it up again. It’s a predicament. While Usyk is doing everything the right way, is Tyson doing his camp at 85 percent of what he would have been doing before he got the cut? Only his close team will know. Usyk is undoubtedly going to be targeting that cut.”
Fury-Usyk takes place on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as boxing gears up to crown a first undisputed champion of its’ glamour division since 1999 in a pay-per-view event that can be purchased through each of DAZN, Sky Sports and TNT Sports in the United Kingdom.
Elsewhere on the card, fans are being treat to a further two world title showdowns as Jai Opetaia rematches three-time cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis with the vacant IBF belt on the line, whilst Wales’ Joe Cordina defends his IBF super-featherweight title against Anthony Cacace of Belfast in an all-British world title affair.
Additionally, light-heavyweight legend Sergey Kovalev makes his comeback, Agit Kabayel and Frank Sanchez go head-to-head in a WBC eliminator and top heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma aims to extend his unbeaten record to 9-0 .
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