Former WBO heavyweight champion, Shannon Briggs, has made his prediction for the upcoming undisputed title clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, with the American confident on who will leave with the belts.
Fury and Usyk have been engaged in talks for the showdown throughout 2023, with hopes fading that the fight would ever materialise. However, to the surprise of most within boxing, both teams confirmed earlier this month that they had put pen to paper on a deal to crown the first undisputed champion since 1999.
Briggs, who defeated Siarhei Liakhovich by a dramatic final-round knockout to become world champion in 2006, told Fight Hype that he can only see a win for ‘The Gypsy King’.
“You can’t go against Fury, he’s never lost, you can’t really go against a man that is that big and can move like that. He’s a big man and look at his legs, he is built funny, he has got the legs of a regular, tall boxer, but he has got the body of a fat man who doesn’t work out, that helps him. He doesn’t have the muscle, but muscle don’t fight.
He’s got that slickness, he can move, he can move his head, and he doesn’t always get the knockout which shows you that he can go the rounds. A man like that, with that big of a size and that much endurance that he has, he can take a shot and give a shot, he can move around, he is dangerous. In the history of boxing, that man could always fight, because of how big he is.
Size doesn’t always matter, but in this case, a big man that can move and box like that, that is dangerous, and he can crack.”
Fury will face Usyk in Saudi Arabia, with a date of December 23 being reported but will be confirmed after the Briton’s crossover bout against Francis Ngannou, which takes place later this month.