REMATCH! Fury Vs. Usyk 2 Full Fight Preview & Prediction
12/21/2024 11:30 AM
Can the champion, Usyk, defeat Fury (again) in their highly-anticipated rematch this evening (Sat., Dec. 21, 2024) in Riyadh?
Seven months ago, Oleksander Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in the biggest Heavyweight boxing match in decades, and honestly, one of the biggest in the history of the division, period.
And it lived up to the hype (relive it here).
Indeed, it was a phenomenally great fight, with both men having big moments of success. Fury started out looking like he was going to dominate throughout the fight, winning (or drawing) six of the first seven rounds. The last half of the fight was all Usyk, who took the last five rounds straight, including a big knockdown in the ninth frame.
In the end, it was a very close fight, and my 115-113 Usyk decision was right in line with how two of the three judges scored it for WBC's newly-crowned kingpin (see them here).
And now? We get more. This evening (Sat., Dec. 21, 2024) live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it's the rematch, streaming live on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) with a special 11 a.m. ET "Prelims" start time.
Tyson Fury
To start off with, let's safely assume that all fighters are at the very least, slightly delusional as to their own selves. They kind of have to be — so much in combat sports relies on one's mental game. An unwavering belief in oneself is a key to victory for nearly every competitor.
With that in mind, take Fury's recent claim that he was only at 40 percent for the first fight, but is at 110 percent for this one, as complete bollocks.
Let's give some belief to the statement and we can feel that Fury might actually improve from the last fight. That is a hard ask at the age of 36, but it's certainly possible that his first-ever loss has spurred him to truly improve on some things that failed him in the first match. Some improvement is certainly possible — we don't know the honest details of how he prepared for the first fight, and there could certainly be some truth in there.
Fury did fade in the fight, as his normally solid cardio started to fail him. That caused his footwork to get a bit sloppy, especially defensively, and he ate a lot more shots from rounds eight through 12. He lost, but to say he was only at 40 percent is cow flop, as he was clearly the better man for much of the first half of fight.
Oleksander Usyk
As for Usyk, while he poured it on in the back half, he gave away so many rounds in the early portion of the fight that it took a Herculean effort to pull out the win by such a slim margin. He figured out the timing of Fury only after he started to slow a bit.
He might be able to do it twice, but relying on boxing judges to get close fights right is absurdly dangerous. He needs to contain Fury's lateral movement while he's still fresh and peppy and do better in the early- and mid-rounds.
Fury is an odd combination of absurdly tough, yet quite hittable and able to be knocked down. Usyk is the smaller man, but if he can counter some of Fury's freneticism and rack up a few knockdowns here and there, he could really pull away from the Englishman on the cards and leave no chance for shenanigans.
Prediction: Fury via decision
For live "Fury vs. Usyk 2" results, including blow-by-blow updates, click here.
