Former undisputed heavyweight champion, Riddick Bowe, had made his prediction ahead of the upcoming showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, after witnessing Fury’s performance against Francis Ngannou in the flesh.
Bowe was crowned as the fourth undisputed champion of the three-belt era, when he defeated Evander Holyfield in 1992 to claim the WBC, WBA & IBF titles. However, his reign came to an end without a defence to his name after he famously vacated the WBC belt and threw it into a trash can, after failed negotiations for a battle with Lennox Lewis.
Lewis went on to become an undisputed champion himself, and was the last of his kind, with Fury and Usyk aiming to end the drought and crown the first four-belt champion in the division’s history and the first undisputed champion since Lewis in 2000.
After witnessing Fury’s close split-decision win over Francis Ngannou, it is safe to say that Bowe had his doubts as to whether the Brit could defeat the slick Ukrainian, telling iFL TV that Fury needs to seriously improve if he enters the ring against Usyk.
“After watching him last night, I would have to say no, [I don’t believe that Fury can beat Usyk], because if he fights that way when he fights Usyk, he is going to get f***ed up, so I hope not.”
Despite claiming that Usyk would get sued if their bout did not take place on December 23, it appears that Fury and his team will delay the spectacle, after a below-par display that saw ‘The Gypsy King’ suffer heavy bruising from the MMA star.
The heavyweight duo are still expected to meet in the early parts of 2024 in Saudi Arabia.