Heavyweight boxing legend and trainer of Francis Ngannou, Mike Tyson, has made his prediction for the undisputed showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk after his man gave Fury a scare on debut, losing by split-decision.
Many expected Ngannou to be embarrassed by Fury but instead the roles were reversed and the Cameroonian came as close as anyone to dethroning ‘The Gypsy King’ and putting an end to his undefeated record, scoring a knockdown in the third round and convincing some fans that he had done enough the beat the Brit.
Speaking to TNT Sports about the Fury-Usyk clash, ‘Iron’ Mike’s prediction for the hotly-anticipated fight hasn’t changed, despite Fury’s below-par performance against Ngannou that has led sceptics to believe that he may be on the decline.
‘He beats Usyk. He will beat him, yeah.’
Back in September, Tyson went into more detail, explaining the Ukrainian will not be able to run or hide from Fury, who goes into the bout with noticeably physical advantages in both size and weight.
‘He [Usyk] can’t run that long with him, Tyson’s going to wear him down. He’ll get on him and wear on him and then he’s going to pound on him.’
‘He [Usyk] is not going to win the titles running. I’m a great fan of Usyk’s but he’s not going to beat Tyson moving and running, he’s going to have to eventually fight.’
Now more than ever, fans are beginning to believe that Usyk could be the man to take Fury’s ‘0’, but there are also plenty who feel Ngannou deserves another shot at Tyson Fury, or at least against one of the other high-profile heavyweight contenders, a proposal that has turned the head of Matchroom Promoter, Eddie Hearn.