The highly anticipated second fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will be taking place this weekend, and we spoke to Misfits boxer Anthony ‘PrettyBoy’ Taylor to preview the clash. The American was full of praise for both fighters and gave his predictions for the Fury vs Usyk heavyweight clash.
Against Usyk, you need to be in shape
Taylor pointed out that the most important factor for Fury, heading into the fight, is to be in incredible shape. The reason for that is Usyk’s footwork.
“You’re talking about a guy who can move very well. A lot of people don’t understand Usyk uses his footwork to win fights. He uses his footwork. He has great footwork. I mean, a lot of people have to understand Usyk is a natural cruiserweight fighter.”
“So you have to have a game plan with Usyk. I personally feel with Tyson, he needs to be in shape. That’s his biggest thing. He’s got to be in shape with Usyk. You have to bounce and move around. When you bounce, he throws off a person’s rhythm in boxing; you keep him honest.“
Taylor backs Fury to win by split decision
Assessing all factors and form, Taylor sees Fury taking this one by split decision, which would hopefully lead to boxing fans getting a trilogy match as they try to find out the overall victor over three fights.
“I honestly think it’s going to be a split decision – Tyson Fury. Tyson is going to be Tyson. He’s going to be fine. Tyson is where Tyson’s at. He got to where he’s at because of his training and his coaches. But I do have Tyson winning by split decision.”
This prediction from Taylor may surprise some as Usyk emerged victorious in the last clash, winning by split decision, and the Ukrainian is currently the bookmakers’ favourite to win the fight.
Fury vs Usyk rematch odds
| Boxer | Fury vs Usyk Fight Winner Odds | Fury vs Usyk Win by KO/TKO odds | Fury vs Usyk Win by Decision Odds |
| Fury | 11/8 | 7/2 | 7/2 |
| Draw | 12/1 | – | – |
| Usyk | 11/8 | 11/4 | 6/4 |
Speaking further, Taylor sees Fury winning the trilogy match and cementing himself as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
“And they’re going to get a trilogy fight. If Tyson Fury does the whole trilogy fight, he wins the trilogy saga. You can put Tyson in the top between top 10, top 15 greatest heavyweights of all time. You can put him there. You can because he’s given you a hell of a trilogy with Deontay Wilder.”
Taylor also believes that Usyk belongs on that list alongside names like Joe Frazier, Rocky Marciano and others, despite coming from a cruiserweight background.
“And if he does that with Usyk, people are considering Usyk as one of the top ten greats. Let’s not take away a lot of these greatest of all time fighters who come from cruiserweight. Archie Moore, Floyd Patterson. Who else? Joe Frazier. Rocky Marciano weighed in at 187 pounds before fighting as a heavyweight.”
The heavily anticipated fight takes place this weekend on the 21st of December, with Fury having it all to do as he tries to win the rematch fight. Usyk continues to dominate heavyweight boxing, and we should be treated to a great fight this weekend between two great heavyweights.
