Heavyweight legend Lennox Lewis has made a very specific prediction for what he thinks will happen when Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk finally square off on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
This much-anticipated fight will be the first time there has been an undisputed contest for all four major belts since 1999. The last man to claim that prestigious title in the banner division was Lewis. He remains one of the heavyweight greats of the modern era, known for his ram-rod jab and his ability to read opponents and take them apart with big finishes.
He trained under Manny Steward out of the famous Kronk Gym, and Fury’s tutelage comes from Steward’s nephew, Sugar Hill. He has transformed Fury’s fortunes by adding power to his game and turning him into a much more aggressive fighter who uses his natural size advantages to overcome opponents.
It’s that style which saw him twice overcome fear puncher Deontay Wilder in their epic trilogy, and has also seen him knockout Derek Chisora and Dillian Whyte.
Usyk however is a very different prospect. The technical southpaw is a nimble boxer with great footwork, a huge boxing IQ, and has, as of yet, never been put down legitimately aside the ring despite being a former undisputed cruiserweight champion who moved up in weight to the heavyweights and taking on and beating Brits Anthony Joshua, twice, and Daniel Dubois last August.
Speaking to TalkSport Boxing, Lewis was asked who wins and how and came down on the side of the Brit.
“I believe that Fury has great tributes, he’s tall, he can box on both feet, southpaw, orthodox, he can go forwards, but right now it’s difficult to beat a bigger guy so I always say the bigger guy has the advantage. I think Tyson Fury on points but you can’t count out Usyk.”
The fight has already been delayed once after Fury sustained a cut late in the day in sparring back in February. This left people wondering if the delay will do him good to get some extra training under his belt following his lacklustre showing against Francis Ngannou last October when he only just beat the boxing novice on points, and now we’re not far away from finding out.
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