Prince Naseem Picks Fury To Beat Usyk In The Rematch

Prince Naseem has picked Tyson Fury to beat Oleksandr Usyk in their December 21 rematch. 

Fury lost the first fight in a split decision, where arguably it should have been unanimous, given Usyk’s superior performance. Aside from the middle rounds, the Ukrainian dominated the first and backend of the fight. He walked down the much bigger Fury, who was 40 pounds heavier and had a seven-inch reach advantage. He almost knocked Fury out in round nine, but the referee controversially imposed a standing eight count. After the loss, several reasons were put forward for Fury’s defeat.

The Gypsy King disputed the decision, saying Usyk only got the decision due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Fury rewatched the fight and felt he still won, calling Usyk an amateur boxer. Others, such as Dominic Ingle, have also suggested that Fury’s conditioning let him down. And yet, Fury had until the Francis Ngannou fight from last October till May to train. Fury’s conditioning was praised coming into the bout, suggesting he ran out of gas due to Usyk. 

Naseem Reacts

Fury’s corner was also criticized. He had three people: Sugar HillSteward, Andy Lee and his father, John Fury. HillSteward was the lead trainer, and Lee assisted. However, John Fury was the dominant voice. This led to criticism, especially since Fury stated he would have pressed the action if he had known he was behind on the cards. However, Naseem still felt Fury could win the rematch.

“I’ve always said ‘why is everybody just talking about his last fight? Why weren’t they talking about Tyson when he went and smashed up Wilder when nobody could smash Wilder, when Anthony Joshua won’t fight him?’ Why are we not talking about that, why is everyone forgetting that? Why are they forgetting every fight he had after that, that he just demolished everybody in that division for all them years and did it in his way.

“How can you take everything away, what he’s done in the sport and base it just on his last fight? Yeah, that ninth round was a crazy round, we know that. But you know what, he came through it, stood on his feet and went 12 rounds at the end of it. I seen him hitting Usyk with some serious uppercuts and hurting him, and can hurt him. So I feel he can (win the rematch),” Naseem said 

Who Wins?

The problem for Fury is that he has never had to deal with a loss. The early signs show he is struggling to accept it. He was thrown out of a bar in Morecombe for being drunk after the Usyk loss. While that has been downplayed as anything serious, he is facing Usyk, who is known for being a disciplined fighter.

Fury has shown throughout his career that he balloons up between camps. That did not impact him during the early parts of his career. However, at the tail end of it, it could be the difference if the fight goes to the later rounds against. With 12 rounds already under his belt, Usyk will fancy his chances. 

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