{"id":70209,"date":"2024-12-18T11:04:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T01:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=70209"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:30:12","slug":"usyk-v-fury-2-the-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2024\/12\/usyk-v-fury-2-the-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Usyk v Fury 2: The Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s finally here.<\/p>\n<p>It appears to be real.<\/p>\n<p>It is spectacular.<\/p>\n<p>Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk II, Sunday morning Australian time.<\/p>\n<p>Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>Even though this one is inexplicably not for the undisputed heavyweight title like the first one was, this one feels like a bigger fight to me.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it\u2019s because the Saudis are shitting all over everyone else\u2019s promotional chops.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\ude02 Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury 2 promo trailer is a MUST watch!<br \/>\ud83c\udfa5 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Turki_alalshikh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Turki_alalshikh<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/H2VWEJuuSL\">pic.twitter.com\/H2VWEJuuSL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Home_of_Fight\/status\/1863280380956086650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 1, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Maybe it\u2019s Usyk showing up as Agent 47 from Hitman to the presser.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">USYK JUST SHOWED UP AS AGENT 47 FROM HITMAN AT THE FURY PRESS CONFERENCE \ud83d\ude2d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/r4P1nAvg1X\">pic.twitter.com\/r4P1nAvg1X<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ACD MMA (@acdmma_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/acdmma_\/status\/1849137814941700534?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Or maybe it\u2019s just because of of how brilliant the first fight was, and how brilliant the two thinkers inside that squared circle are.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever it is, I can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n<p>Upon a rewatch of the first fight, it can be broken into three distinct phases.<\/p>\n<h5>Phase 1: Feeling Out \u2013 Rounds 1 and 2<\/h5>\n<p>Fury started the fight jabbing and moving, different to how he fought Wilder the second and third time and how he fought Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wilder vs Fury 2: Tyson Fury defeats Deontay Wilder | HIGHLIGHTS\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LdDbqm6e_Cc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It was more of the Fury from the first Wilder fight, who wowed everyone with his movement of both head and foot for a big man.<\/p>\n<p>He was on his toes moving around, feinting and peppering his jab to good effect.<\/p>\n<p>The key thing here was that he ceded the centre of the ring to Usyk. It was a fight of one man, Usyk, putting on unrelenting pressure, and the other man working off the leader.<\/p>\n<p>We also saw Usyk\u2019s key punch, which was that off centre left hand that he throws as a southpaw.<\/p>\n<p>His head went outside of Fury\u2019s hitting range, while his left hand hit Fury\u2019s stomach early and chin later.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/x.com\/SteveBoxman\/status\/1849056911695434040<\/p>\n<p>Neither fighter dominated the first phase of the fight, though Usyk\u2019s instant understanding of distance was something to behold.<\/p>\n<h5>Phase 2: Fury Feasts \u2013 Rounds 3 to 6<\/h5>\n<p>While the fight retained its initial comportment, with Usyk moving forward and Fury moving backward, Fury kept his jab flicking out and had some success.<\/p>\n<p>Fury\u2019s tactical brilliance was on display with the way he threw his jabs in this fight. He always threw them from around his waist and basically left his right to do the defensive work.<\/p>\n<p>That meant that Usyk, whose reflexes are still insane even at his age, couldn\u2019t see the jab coming until late.<\/p>\n<p>In this phase we also saw Fury\u2019s key punch, the right uppercut to the head and body.<\/p>\n<p>Like the jab this was also kind of a hidden shot, and the ones to the body seemed to affect Usyk.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"pl\" dir=\"ltr\">Tyson Fury stuns Oleksandr Usyk in Round 6 \ud83e\udd4a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FuryUsyk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FuryUsyk<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o0t0yo2lXt\">pic.twitter.com\/o0t0yo2lXt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom\/status\/1791969963210608801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>However punching Usyk in the head is like punching Mickey in <em>Snatch<\/em>, it just makes him stronger.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SNATCH | Final Fight Scene | Brad Pitt, Jason Statham\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2pMDyhONX3Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While Fury had some success with his jab, both men\u2019s rear hands were the decisive punches.<\/p>\n<h5>Phase 3: Usyk\u2019s Uprising \u2013 Rounds 7 to 12<\/h5>\n<p>This was the decisive phase in the fight.<\/p>\n<p>It started in round seven as the fight started swinging from Fury to Usyk.<\/p>\n<p>After a lot of activity from Fury in the previous three rounds, he started to fatigue.<\/p>\n<p>You could see it in Fury\u2019s right hand dropping defensively, which led to Usyk\u2019s left hand making itself at home on Fury\u2019s chin time and again.<\/p>\n<p>Due to the fatigue, Fury also abandoned his jab and started to let Usyk control the geography of the fight.<\/p>\n<p>Usyk started to get his angles game going, as he stepped outside of Fury\u2019s lead food again and again to land his off-centre left hand.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in rounds eight through 12, Usyk started pouring it on.<\/p>\n<p>Defensively he neutered Fury\u2019s uppercut with positioning and movement away from the right hand in the first instance, then dipping inside the uppercut when he was there to be hit (a 180 change in his dip angle).<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/x.com\/TypewritingDA\/status\/1852720565716435333<\/p>\n<p>Offensively, he was fresher than Fury. He was able to counter every Fury potshot with a combination, which usually landed on the chin because of Fury\u2019s constant lapses in defensive responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>This was also the phase when the biggest punch of the night happened, and where Fury was again saved by the ref and the ropes<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Go ringside for the moment Usyk DROPPED Fury \ud83d\ude31<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/usykaa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Usykaa<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FuryUsyk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FuryUsyk<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lhyZ5x3UpX\">pic.twitter.com\/lhyZ5x3UpX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/trboxing\/status\/1791982521573691404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Every time Usyk landed that left hand Fury was like Steve Carell in <em>Crazy Stupid Love <\/em>when he finds out his wife was having an affair.<\/p>\n<p>He was surprised but he shouldn\u2019t have been.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) - Jumping out of a Car Scene (1\/10) | Movieclips\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-wbCBqi-UwA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>What does it all mean?<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If Fury tries to box Usyk, he\u2019s going to lose again and probably worse.<\/p>\n<p>Usyk is the best in-ring thinker since Floyd Mayweather Jr and always has a one more adjustment than his opponent, like his movement to get away from the uppercut in the first fight for instance.<\/p>\n<p>Usyk boxes like a Rubik\u2019s Cube that makes a move every time you make a move then after a while it just blows up.<\/p>\n<p>He is impossible to solve, and he will eventually hurt you.<\/p>\n<p>Usyk is also one of the best momentum fighters I have ever seen, maybe since Manny Pacquaio.<\/p>\n<p>I mean that in both a macro and a micro sense.<\/p>\n<p>In a micro sense he\u2019s a brilliant combination puncher, even if it\u2019s mostly 1-2 or 1-1-2 combinations.<\/p>\n<p>He varies speed, tempo, angles and power so brilliantly that it\u2019s impossible to know what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n<p>In a macro sense, Usyk always finishes fights strong.<\/p>\n<p>He has come home with a wet sail the whole way through his career, almost always winning the later rounds in fights partly because of his superior fitness and partly because of his adjustments.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Usyk has very unique power, he hits hard enough to badly wobble you but not enough to put you down \ud83d\ude02 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4aYnl0mAXE\">pic.twitter.com\/4aYnl0mAXE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jack Alter (@JackAlter0) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackAlter0\/status\/1792036367939064089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Boxing with him is an invitation to let him do that.<\/p>\n<p>However, Fury has a possible adjustment that Usyk doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Fury, at 6\u20199 is the taller and heavier man than Usyk.<\/p>\n<p>Fury can use that height and weight like he has in his recent career, to fight moving forward and to lean on opponents in the clinch.<\/p>\n<p>Tire them out not with movement, but instead with this huge and tall man leaning on you and unloading on the way in and out.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s basically been how he has fought since the second Wilder fight, if you hear him describe it, he boxes like an 18-wheeler running opponents\u2019 over.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;I anticipate it&#39;s gonna be like an 18-wheeler rolling over someone.&quot; &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tyson_Fury?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Tyson_Fury<\/a>&#39;s official fight prediction. <\/p>\n<p>What else did you expect?<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FuryWilder3?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FuryWilder3<\/a> | JULY 24 | Las Vegas | PPV <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/F3TZLkjFU6\">pic.twitter.com\/F3TZLkjFU6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/trboxing\/status\/1404907554874937345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In the first fight, Fury used the clinch sparingly and in the back half of the fight only to save energy for himself.<\/p>\n<p>He could try and employ those 18-wheeler tactics against Usyk and totally flip the comportment of the fight.<\/p>\n<p>There are three issues with that.<\/p>\n<p>The first is that, because of Usyk\u2019s outrageous movement, he\u2019s going to be hard to find and sit on.<\/p>\n<p>If Fury plans on coming in heavy for this fight and employing this tactic, I think that\u2019s a mistake because it\u2019ll just make it harder to chase Usyk around.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re going to be bigger anyway, don\u2019t overcapitalise.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tyson Fury will weigh-in &#39;HEAVIER&#39; for rematch with Oleksandr Usyk after recent pics showed dramatic body transformation&#8230; as Gypsy King&#39;s &#39;target weight&#39; is revealed <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/no0JnAXY8x\">https:\/\/t.co\/no0JnAXY8x<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mail Sport (@MailSport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MailSport\/status\/1867580713895100795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The second is that Usyk is a brilliant counterpuncher when Fury does find him, and Fury has shown he can\u2019t just walk through Usyk\u2019s power on his way in.<\/p>\n<p>The third, and this is the most important, is that while Fury is bigger Usyk is clearly better in the clinch.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is your reminder that for all the talk of Fury\u2019s ability to lean, smother and maul, he never had the means to better Usyk in tie-ups. Real ones knew Usyk had the answers with his stellar positioning and control game. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/H7SolPx4W4\">pic.twitter.com\/H7SolPx4W4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ollie (@OllRad) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OllRad\/status\/1792522168946905309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Usyk\u2019s body strength is like a Greco-Roman wrestler\u2019s and Fury couldn\u2019t weigh him down the first time.<\/p>\n<p>He can also get out of the clinches quickly and launch attacks.<\/p>\n<p>In the fifth round, while Fury was still trying to clinch as an attacking move, he tried to lean on Usyk.<\/p>\n<p>Usyk was too quick, spun out of it, and had his left hand cocked and ready for action. Nothing was thrown, but it was an indication of Usyk\u2019s skills.<\/p>\n<p>I suspect that experience turned Fury off doing it for the rest of the fight and might have an impact on the second one.<\/p>\n<h5>Prediction<\/h5>\n<p>Don Draper famously said \u201cif don\u2019t like what\u2019s being said, change the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ThanksgivingTip?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ThanksgivingTip<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you don&#39;t like what is being said, change the conversation.<\/p>\n<p>-Don Draper <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JS5zEGFmbg\">pic.twitter.com\/JS5zEGFmbg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mad Men Quotes (@MadMenQts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MadMenQts\/status\/1199879593089490944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 28, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Fury is the one who can change the conversation most significantly, but even if it does, I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll like what anyone is saying regardless.<\/p>\n<p>Usyk by UD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s finally here. It appears to be real. It is spectacular. Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk II, Sunday morning Australian time. Merry Christmas. Even though this one is inexplicably not for the undisputed heavyweight title like the first one was, this one feels like a bigger fight to me. Maybe it\u2019s because the Saudis are shitting all over everyone else\u2019s promotional chops. \ud83d\ude02 Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury 2 promo trailer is a MUST watch!\ud83c\udfa5 @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com\/H2VWEJuuSL&mdash; Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) December 1, 2024 Maybe it\u2019s Usyk showing up as Agent 47 from Hitman to the presser. USYK JUST SHOWED&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":70242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,8298,598,344],"tags":[108,8260],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-70209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boxing","category-guywholikessport","category-special-interest","category-sports","tag-boxing","tag-guywholikessport"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":null,"md_tip_date_end":null,"md_market_url":"","tip_date":"18\/12\/2024","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87815,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70209\/revisions\/87815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70209"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=70209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}