Hatton Not Worried By Fury’s Poor Performance Against Ngannou
Tyson Fury’s below-par performance against Francis Ngannou could help him prepare for the Oleksandr Usyk fight.
That is according to Ricky Hatton. The Gypsy King struggled to deal with the former UFC heavyweight champion. The latter was making his boxing debut. And yet, Fury had to get up from the canvas in round three to come through with a split-decision win. In the aftermath of the fight, there were serious concerns over whether Fury’s form had declined or if he had simply overlooked Ngannou.
After all, the latter was not expected to put in a competitive performance, given the absence of boxing experience. And in a fight where Fury faces an undefeated boxer in the form of Usyk, this will have to improve radically. Nevertheless, Hatton was not too concerned with what he had seen since it would fire Fury up to improve his game.
Hatton On Fury
“It’s probably not such a bad thing. It’s probably what you want before you go fighting Oleksandr Usyk because he’ll know, ‘I’ve gotta pull my socks up, I can’t be performing like that again. So it probably wasn’t such a bad thing, but yeah we thought we’d lost it when Tyson was struggling.
“A lot of people thought he might have lost the fight or thought, ‘There’s that Usyk fight gone.’ But he got the decision, which I thought he just did, he won it by the narrowest of margins, just because he was a little bit busier. But he’ll be up for this Usyk fight, and he’ll need to be, because only Tyson Fury’s best will beat this fella,” Hatton said
Much in the same way, Andy Lee had no reservations over what he had seen of Fury during their time together in the gym. A lot has been said about Usyk’s ability to outthink his opponent with his boxing IQ, in particular his footwork.
This was shown in the two Anthony Joshua fights as the Brit was unable to utilise his height and reach advantage as Usyk was on the cusp of getting a stoppage in the first fight, only for the final bell to ring. At the same time, Fury’s footwork has been impressive for a fighter that stands at 6 foot 9. But after the Ngannou fight, there were worries that the Gypsy King was slowing down. And yet, Lee had no concerns over Fury by acknowledging his superior footwork to Usyk.
Lee On Fury
“No, Tyson is more skilled, and Tyson has got better footwork. Tyson is taller. Usyk might have an edge in speed now than this version of Tyson being the lighter man. In most departments, Tyson has him outgunned. Tactics will be a big factor in this fight. Tyson has a great boxing mind. He’ll figure him out; he knows what he’s doing. You can’t depend on anything. You’ve got to prepare for someone that is 100% strong,” Lee stated
Ultimately, both boxers know that history is on the line. The winner becomes the undisputed heavyweight champion, the first since Lennox Lewis to do it when he beat Evander Holyfield in 1999. And with the best heavyweight of this era up for grabs, both fighters will put it all on the line.
‘Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com’
