Tyson Fury is pulling for IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to win his fight this Saturday against the always crafty Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury wants the massive $100 million paydays from fighting Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) in the undisputed championship in early 2022.
That’s why Fury advises Joshua not to play around with Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) by attempting to out-box him, as he’s talking about wanting to do.
Fury wants Joshua to use his size and power to overwhelm Usyk with huge shots in the first two rounds so he can score a fast knockout. Leaving Usyk out there like an old landmine waiting to explode would be a mistake.
Fury’s advice for Joshua are things that he probably won’t try due to his poor stamina. Fury says that Joshua would need four rounds to recover his energy if he fought hard for two rounds.
“You’ve got the typical light, smaller cruiserweight moving up to heavyweight [Usyk], and you got the typical hulking heavyweight, strong body and all that sort of stuff,” said Tyson Fury to Boxing with Chris Mannix on the Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight.
“You’ve got the southpaw vs. the orthodox, which is always interesting. I’m interested in seeing how he [Joshua] handles the smarter boxer and that type of thing.
“You can see this fight going a couple of different ways. The way I would say for AJ to beat Usyk is to get straight on him in an all-out attack, head, and body,” said Fury.
“Use your size and strength and get him out of there. But you have to have big balls to do that, and AJ doesn’t have the stamina to do that sort of thing.
“Because if he does a sustained attack for two rounds, he needs four rounds to recover again. You know, it could be interesting. Everyone says Usyk is a small puncher, but I’m not so sure.
“All heavyweights can punch hard. The people that have troubled me the most in my career at the light non-punchers.
“I once fought a Canadian champion named Neven Pajkic back in 2011, and he only had five knockouts in sixteen wins. Guess what? I got knocked over.
“Steve Cunningham had like five or six knockouts in 20-something wins, and guess what? I hit the canvas.
“So when you underestimate these guys, heavyweights especially, they’re all big guys, 200-pound+, they’re all big, and they can hurt you,” Fury said.
It would be a good idea for Joshua to unload on Usyk early while he’s fresh so that he can finish the fight. A sustained flurry of punches from Joshua may prove to be enough for the referee to step in and halt the bout.
Fury thinks Joshua won’t take the chance of going all out with his attack for fear of gassing out and being at the mercy of Usyk.
Joshua gassed out against Wladimir Klitschko in 2017, and he would have been knocked out if the Ukrainian fighter dared to go for the KO.
Wladimir didn’t dare to try and finish the job, and he let Joshua off the hook. Usyk won’t lack the bravery to finish Joshua if he fades on him on Saturday night.
“One thing we’ve seen with AJ before is that he’ll quit in a second if he’s under pressure,” said ‘The Gypsy King.’ He’s like a cheap cushion that you get from a cheap shop.
“It falls apart at the seams when it’s under pressure, and that happens sometimes. It could happen here, and if it does, it costs me like a hundred million dollars.
“Yeah, I’m rooting for him [Joshua]. They’re all big paydays at this level, to be honest with you,” said Fury when asked if he would consider fighting Dillian Whyte before Joshua.
“You may as well collect all those little coins beforehand as well. I want to keep active. We’ll see how I get through this fight [with Wilder].
“One thing I’ve learned about boxers is that you can never count your chickens before they’ve hatched.
“You got to do one fight at a time and get the victory, which is the most important thing. And then you can do all the other fights,” Fury said.
It’s difficult to picture the 221-lb Usyk pressuring Joshua enough to make him quit on Saturday, but anything is possible.
Watching Usyk take apart Tony Bellew in 2018 was a surprise because he showed power in stopping ‘The Bomber’ in the eighth.
Bellew was the aggressor for the first seven rounds of the fight, and he looked like he was on his way to a 12 round decision. But in the eighth, Usyk suddenly went on the attack and took Bellew out.
It was sneaky the way Usyk waited until the eighth round before turning up his offense full blast, which took Bellew by a complete surprise.
If Usyk does that against Joshua, he can stop him because he’ll be tired in the second half of the contest.
Fury Wants To Fight In December
“With Wilder, he’s very dangerous. I don’t want to underestimate him,” said Fury. “He’s always got that knockout power.
“I am very confident beating him by knockout. Never underestimate a puncher like Wilder, so you have to take it very seriously.
“Concentrate for however long we’re in that ring and get the job done, and then figure out what I’m going to do. I’d like to fight in December if I’m able to if I’m injury-free, and whatever.
“Dillian Whyte has his little challenge against Otto Wallin. He’s not a pushover. He gave me a good fight. He’s a big southpaw, 6’5”, and he’s got a great trainer.
“He’ll have a great game plan, and they’ll really fancy the fight against Dillian Whyte. You can never tell what’s going to happen in the heavyweight landscape.
“Heavy forbid, Wilder could knock me the spark out, and Usyk could beat Joshua, and Wallin could beat Whyte. You never can tell in boxing. It’s always a surprise lurking,” said Fury.
If everything goes well for Fury against Wilder and Joshua in his fight with Usyk, it’s unlikely Tyson would dare take a risky fight in December.
With the $100 million that Fury can make fighting Joshua in the first quarter of 2022, he won’t want to take the risk of losing that by fighting a tune-up.
If Fury fights in December, the boxing public will want him to fight Dillian Whyte, assuming he wins his next match against Otto Wallin on October 30th.
Fury can probably beat Whyte if he’s firing on all eight cylinders, but given his inactivity, that would be a risky fight.