Irish boxing promoter Barry McGuigan believes WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 33-0-1 (24) is not the fighter he once was.
The 34-year-old Fury is widely expected to face Ukrainian southpaw and WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 20-0 (13) in a rare four-belt unification bout on March 4.
Fury is coming off a 10th round stoppage of veteran Derek Chisora 33-13 (23) earlier this month. Usyk is fresh off back-to-back points wins over former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua 24-3 (22) this past August and in September last year.
McGuigan says Fury might be biting off more than he can chew against the nimble and skilled Usyk.
“No date but plenty of positive noises from the Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk camps pointing to a heavyweight unification bout early next year,” McGuigan wrote in an opinion column for The Mirror.
“It’s a great fight and closer than most imagine. I’m not convinced that Fury is the fighter he was, based on what I saw against Derek Chisora. Del Boy is durable and stands in front of you. And, yes, Fury boxed the ears off him but never looked like taking him out.
“I’m not sure 19-and-a-half stone suits Fury. He should come in 10 pounds lighter and be more nimble against Usyk, which he will need to be. In prepping for the Anthony Joshua fights, Usyk sparred four or five big guys and battered them.
“And we learned in both Joshua fights that the size of his opponent does not matter to him. I think he has a very good chance. Usyk is complicated to work out. He is a southpaw and elusive. If Fury can’t hit him with the jab, he is going to have nightmares.
“In my experience as a fighter, it is almost impossible to land a clean jab against an elite southpaw. Usyk is also a brilliant counter-puncher, and though he does not have lights-out power, he is so durable and physically strong. Tactically, he is outstanding, courtesy of a 350-fight amateur career that yielded heavyweight gold at the Olympics and World Championships.
“Nature does not dish out all her gifts universally, but Usyk has enough of them to fill the power deficit at heavyweight. Fury has had a terrific career. But take Deontay Wilder and Wladimir Klitschko out of it and the big names aren’t there to substantiate Fury as the class act in this fight.
“He will be odds-on to win but when you drill down, it is a more difficult fight for him than Wilder or Klitschko. Fury relies on his size and intimidation. But Usyk does not scare easily. The way he stared down Fury at the Chisora fight told us that.
“Usyk was too good for Joshua, who improved considerably in the second fight. Joshua is a decent attacking fighter too, better than Fury on the front foot.
“Fury is essentially a boxer-fighter. He rarely comes forward until he has to. Speed is the issue. Usyk is not only a southpaw who moves brilliantly and takes a shot, he has epic speed. I think this is a much tougher fight for Fury than he thinks it is. And, like Joshua, he could be in for a rude awakening.”
