British boxing icon Duke McKenzie has cast doubt on ‘s strategy to bulk up for his rematch with , suggesting it might instead benefit the Ukrainian. ‘The Gypsy King’ is in the final phase of preparation for the highly anticipated second bout, aiming to avenge his first professional loss to Usyk, which was inflicted via split decision in Riyadh last May.
The two titans are set to clash again in the ring on December 21 and last month, Fury disclosed his intention to aim for a knockout victory in their Christmas showdown.
In a recent interview discussing the upcoming release of the boxing video game ‘Undisputed’, Fury was questioned about his preferred fighting tactic—maintaining distance or engaging closely. He responded: “I don’t know. It’s horses for courses isn’t it? It all depends on what I need to do on the night.”
He elaborated on his approach, saying, “I needed to get Wilder out of there or he got me out of there and that’s the type of fight it had to be. It had to be a 50/50 gunsling with the biggest puncher in history or else he’d have chinned me in round nine. Going into the rematch with Usyk, it’s going to be the same. I’m going to roll the dice and it’s going to be you or me… best foot forward and swing away. I’ve never been afraid to get knocked spark out. I’ve always put it on the line every time.”
He declared: “There’s no secret! I’m going in there to knock you out because I don’t think I’m going to get a decision no matter what I do. I don’t think I’m going to get a boxing decision, so I’m going to have to take it out of the judges hands like I did in America that time and I’ve got to get him (Usyk) out of there. Hand on heart, I have to get him out of there to see victory.”
Tyson Fury before his fight with Oleksandr Usyk (Image: undefined)
Ahead of their eagerly anticipated rematch, latest snapshots suggest Tyson Fury is bulking up as he aims to ensure a decisive outcome next month. The two-time heavyweight world champ registered a hefty 262lb at their last bout—a massive 30lb more than Usyk.
Despite rating his previous performance a perfect 10/10, the British fighter maintained it didn’t showcase the ‘real Gypsy King’. Fury shared his sentiments on last month, posting a photo from before his May loss, with the remark: “Was in the shape of my life, but this is not the GK [Gypsy King].” Accompanying this was another picture from his second bout against Deontay Wilder, captioned: “This is him, 19st 11lbs, bruiser.”
Britain’s first three-weight world champion, McKenzie, however, has expressed his doubts about Fury’s strategy for the rematch, stating on talkSPORT’s podcast: “He [Fury] doesn’t live, eat, walk, talk the sport but you’re supposed to. In-between fights is where fights are won and lost. We know Fury blows up, puts on a load of weight between fights and then he has got to get rid of all that weight again. Now, they’re trying to tell us that Fury is going to be bigger and better.”
McKenzie believes that Fury’s plan to gain weight will not be effective against Usyk, saying: “Bigger and better isn’t going to beat Usyk. It’s really not. If he puts on more weight and thinks to himself ‘I’m going to bully Usyk this time, I’m going to go in and walk him down, I’ll be able to take his shots because I’m that much bigger’, it’s not going to work for him. He’s going to be slower, he’s going to be more predictable, he’s going to get hit more and a lot sooner.”
McKenzie confidently predicts that Usyk will win the rematch, stating: “Usyk wins the rematch all day long, I can’t see how Tyson Fury beats him. He’s not going to knock Usyk out. This guy is unbeaten, so you have to look for chinks in his armour. Has this guy got a bad engine? Does he get cut? Does he go down? Does he have to get up off the floor to win fights? Usyk doesn’t have to do any of them, he’s never shown a vulnerability.”