Roy Jones Jr has shared his prediction for the upcoming rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, insisting that he can only see one possible outcome in the fight.
Usyk became undisputed heavyweight champion when he defeated ‘The Gypsy King’ by split decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last month, adding the WBC title to his IBF, WBO and WBA crowns.
It was a tremendous back and forth battle, with Fury appearing to be ahead at the halfway stage, before Usyk took over and earned a knockdown in round nine that proved to be the difference on the scorecards.
The pair are now set to meet again on December 21, and boxing legend Jones has made a defiant prediction when discussing the bout with Betway.
“I don’t really think that [Fury can win the rematch]. It could happen but right now for me there are two things that happened in that fight. Oleksandr Usyk has found out that he can hurt Tyson Fury.
“He knew that coming into it, but he’s found out now that he can hurt Fury. The smaller man now knows he can hurt the bigger man. Usyk is favourite for the rematch and now here is the thing – Tyson Fury is a very smart guy and is really good at making adjustments but Usyk in my humble opinion comes through him again.
“But now that Usyk knows he can hurt and beat Tyson Fury, he could now underestimate him in the rematch. But we all know Fury has been knocked down seven times [in his career].”
Jones also responded to whether Fury needs to go for the knockout in order to guarantee victory against Usyk in their rematch.
“No, I don’t think so. When have we ever known Tyson Fury to come out and knock somebody out? He fought Deontay Wilder, and he got back up [before eventually stopping him in the rematch] but Usyk is a whole different animal.
“Anthony Joshua hit him hard and couldn’t knock him out so how his Fury going to knock him out? It’s kind of unrealistic. Joshua couldn’t knock out Usyk, but he knocked out Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury couldn’t so how is he going to knock somebody out that Joshua couldn’t knock out?”
It remains to be seen whether the rematch will once again be for the undisputed heavyweight title, with discussions still ongoing about if the IBF belt will have to be stripped from Usyk.
If it does become vacant, it is expected to be contested between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September, after Dubois stopped Filip Hrgovic earlier this month to become interim IBF champion.
Boxing Social is now on WhatsApp! Join our channel by clicking here and getting all the latest boxing news direct to your phone.