As Saturday’s undisputed heavyweight title showdown approaches, fans are questioning which game plan will be adopted by Tyson Fury against Oleksandr Usyk, and his father and coach John Fury may have let the game plan slip by revealing the weight that his son will weigh in at.
Fury became the unified WBO, WBO & IBF champion back in 2015 when he shockingly outpointed Wladimir Klitschko and put an end to the nine-year reign of ‘Dr. Steelhammer’, putting on a boxing clinic with a scrappy yet effective game plan that negated the usually dull tactics of the champion and outpointing Klitschko on away soil.
Some years later, Fury would return to challenge for the WBC throne and take on the hard-hitting Deontay Wilder, employing similar tactics to outsmart the ‘Bronze Bomber’ and box his way to a decision, until a dramatic 12th round knockdown dropped Fury hard.
Rather than cover up and focus on reaching the final bell, when he and everyone else believed him to be up on the scorecards, Fury opted for the opposite and applied front-footed pressure onto Wilder, amazingly winning the rest of the round but still only coming away from the contest with a draw.
This success in the final round encouraged Fury to meet fire with fire the next time he faced Wilder, ditching Ben Davison and appointing SugarHill Steward as his new trainer, seeking to utilize his 6’9” frame and become the aggressor against the American.
This idea worked perfectly and Fury dominated his rival in the rematch, knocking Wilder out in the seventh to bring about a second era of ‘The Gypsy King’.
As you would expect, Fury piled on the weight when favouring the ‘Kronk’ style, weighing 273lbs and 277lbs for his second and third fights with Wilder, as opposed to the 247lbs that he came in at for the battle with Klitschko.
Yet, in an interview with iFL TV, John Fury surprisingly revealed that Fury will weigh-in at a new career-low on Friday.
“You can see that Tyson is in fabulous shape. We have not left a stone unturned, he has grinded and he has worked his a** off. I just think to myself, that Usyk has got to bring something that we haven’t seen before – I’ve watched him do ‘AJ’ twice, I have watched every heavyweight fight that he has had – that cannot beat ‘The Gypsy King’. Not on this form, not on this mindset.
“[He is weighing a] career lightest, he is looking well and mean, you will see on Saturday night. The Gypsy King will remain supreme and as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”
The lowest weight that Fury has weighed for a fight was 245.5lbs when he was tasked with Vinny Maddalone in July 2012, but the decision to trump this against Usyk is a clear indicator that Fury is planning on boxing and moving against one of boxing’s greatest technicians and boxing brains.
Boxing Social is now on WhatsApp! Join our channel by clicking here and getting all the latest boxing news direct to your phone.