George Groves thinks that Tyson Fury must ‘totally change’ to win the upcoming undisputed fight against Oleksandr Usyk.
The much anticipated fight between two stars of the heavyweight division is scheduled for Saudi Arabia on February 17. It will be the first time in 24 years that the banner class will have an undisputed champion following Lennox Lewis achieving that feat in 2000.
Fury’s preparation has not been the best, with a less than impressive showing against boxing debutant Francis Ngannou back in October that saw him hit the canvas in the third round before eventually seeing out a split decision points win.
Usyk meanwhile is coming off a stoppage win over Daniel Dubois, and back-to-back points victories over Anthony Joshua in 2021 and 2022 to win and then defend his three of the four major world titles.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Groves was asked why he has picked Usyk to win having in the past said he didn’t think the fight would happen at all.
“Usyk is the better fighter. He’s in really good form. I really rate Usyk, he’s clever and the most complete fighter in the heavyweight division.
“He’s a bit of a throwback fighter in terms of his boxing acumen, what he knows about the ring, manipulating the people in front of him whoever he faces.
“He’s going to have to contend with a lot of height, size, weight and reach against Fury but I still think he can do.”
Groves then referenced Fury’s last fight and said he needs to do much better next time out.
“After his last fight against Ngannou, Fury is going to have to completely change it up cause he can’t come with that against Usyk but that might be the best thing for him to make him knuckle down, make the changes and adapt and make it a competitive fight.”
Both men are not deep in training camp ahead of their showdown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.