Former Dillian Whyte trainer Mark Tibbs has offered his opinion the upcoming and historic undisputed heavyweight title showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, with fight night now just over a month away.
Tibbs trained heavyweight contender Whyte between 2016 and 2020, but they parted ways following Whyte’s shock knockout defeat to Alexander Povetkin, being replaced by Xavier Miller for the rematch where ‘The Body Snatcher’ got his revenge.
Speaking to Boxing Social, Tibbs looked ahead to what will be the first ever four-belt undisputed heavyweight title fight, admitting that although he appreciates the technical skills of Usyk, the physical advantages and experience of Fury should see him triumph.
“I have always fancied Fury because of the obvious reasons – he is the bigger animal, the natural heavyweight, as opposed to the pumped-up cruiserweight but he is the superior boxer and he handles all of the top heavyweights in the world – including Anthony Joshua who he has beaten twice.
“The cut [to Fury] threw me a bit but I have to back my guy Tyson Fury, our [Britain’s] own guy. He will have his work cut out, but I still think that because he is the bigger animal, unless he underprepares then it could go wrong for him, I am backing Tyson Fury. He will have knuckled down for this fight, for sure.
“Tyson will know how to ‘front-hand’ him [Usyk], manage him and get him on his heels a little bit, still boxing but man-handle him a little bit, to stop Usyk looking pretty like he always does.”
Fury-Usyk takes place on May 18th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with full undercard details now officially confirmed for what is sure to be a memorable night of boxing.