Despite winning almost every second of his fight with Daniel Dubois last weekend, many are starting to play down Oleksandr Usyk’s chances in a potential undisputed clash with Tyson Fury.
Former world champion Paulie Malignaggi has weighed in with his prediction for the monster heavyweight dust up – and is siding with ‘The Gypsy King’ to emerge with all four world titles, should the contest ever get made.
In a recent interview with Boxing King Media, Malignaggi explained that Fury was just “too big” for unified world champion Usyk.
“I personally think Fury is too big. It’s not just too big, it’s the combination of being too big and also having the physical gifts to go along with that natural size.”
“Fury’s a big guy who is athletic and knows how to manoeuvre and can also bully you with his size.”
“Usyk is a very good fighter, but I think Fury is the biggest athlete we’ve ever had in boxing, because he’s not cumbersome and clumsy at that size.”
“I would favour Fury, but it’s not an easy fight.”
Though Usyk put on a boxing clinic that culminated in a ninth round stoppage victory, the main talking point from the fight was whether a fifth round low blow from Dubois, that sent the defending champion crashing to the canvas, should have been ruled a scoring shot.
Perhaps talk of Usyk having a “glass belly” will be enough to tempt Fury into a blockbuster fight in early 2024 – provided he makes it past former UFC star Franics Ngannou on October 28 in Saudi Arabia.