Lennox Lewis believes WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury’s disputed 10-round split decision win against Francis Ngannou in their non-title bout last October was the perfect preparation for his undisputed clash with WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 18.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury 34-0-1 (24) was expected to walk through boxing debutant and former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou 0-2 when they met in Saudi Arabi last year, but the fight could’ve ended very differently.
Weighing in at almost 278-pounds and visibly out of shape, Fury was decked in the third round with a big left hook and was wary of Ngannou’s power for the rest of the fight.
He eventually eked out a decision win by scores of 94-95, 95-94 and 96-93 in what was arguably the worst performance of the 35-year-old Brit’s 16-year pro career.
Former undisputed heavyweight champ Lewis, who retired 21 years ago with a record of 42-2-1 (31) with the WBC belt still strapped around his waist, says the Ngannou fight was exactly the type of wake up call Fury needed ahead of facing such a formidable opponent as Ukrainian southpaw Usyk 21-0 (14).
“I think it was a bad day at the office. He didn’t take the fight as seriously as he should’ve. That was just basically a wake-up call for him,” the 58-year-old Lewis told talkSPORT.
“A wake-up call to say, ‘Hey, get in shape, this guy hasn’t had any fights and you let him real close to you.’ So I think mentally that kind of bothered him for a bit, because if you look at him now, he’s in great shape.
“Weeks before the fight, he’s in great shape. That’s telling me that he’s taking the fight serious and we’re gonna have a great fight…
“It was a wake-up call for him, he wasn’t as serious as he should’ve been for that fight. He actually needed that to wake him up. I gave him heck, a lot of people gave him heck and now he’s focused.”
Lewis also thinks Fury’s sheer dimensions will cause trouble for the six-foot-three Usyk, who previously reigned as undisputed cruiserweight king and typically comes in at around 220-pounds for his heavyweight bouts.
“Tyson Fury’s not no easy fight for anybody. He’s elusive, he moves well, he boxes from both sides. For any boxer it’s gonna take a while to figure out,” said Lewis, who famously had two close fights with former cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield.
“Also, the height difference is a problem. Six-foot-nine-inches, it’s not an easy fight for anybody. And he [Usyk] is not gonna get the fat Tyson Fury, he’s gonna get the focused guy. The guy that don’t have a belly, don’t have love handles, is ready, focused and willing.”
