Fury vs Usyk: Andy Clark says Alexander Usyk is great but Tyson Fury could expose weaknesses Boxing News

Sky Sports boxing expert Andy Clark sets his sights on Saturday’s undisputed world title fight between Tyson Fury and Alexander Usyk, discussing the significant size difference and rare clash of styles in heavyweight boxing history…

When Usyk moved up to heavyweight, we all suspected he would be a force. I did think about what would happen if these two collided. I’ve always felt that Fury was good enough to make his size work, which is something others would have a hard time doing against Usyk.

But people talk about Usyk like he’s some kind of undersized heavyweight. He weighed in at a whopping 220 pounds, which is basically what Mike Tyson was when he became the undisputed figure. I know things have changed now, but 220 is a good, stable weight.

He’s big enough and punches hard enough, but Fury is probably about 50 pounds heavier and he can do that. But, having said that, the fight with Francis Ngannou does make me feel like it’s going to be a close fight. Fury didn’t do well, but it was probably the best thing that ever happened – it got him refocused.

Or he might be on the decline, as that can happen in your 30s. I’d make him my favorite, but I think it’s a close fight.

This is different than the undisputed heavyweight bouts of the past. Because in heavyweight boxing you often end the fight early, and a knockout can actually happen in one of two ways. Generally speaking, when you break it down, either you get hit by something you don’t really see, or you’re not really prepared for it, and it could just be a shot. If that happens, anyone can go. Everyone tells you that, everyone agrees with it.

Or you get more of a fatigue knockout, where the energy level is low in the fight, one fighter catches up with the other, neither man really has anything left, and one clean strike is enough.

With these two, I don’t see the first type of elimination coming. I think they were too alert and too aware to be caught so early in something big that they couldn’t see. A late stoppage isn’t out of the question, but it’s likely we’ll see a full-length, highly technical fight that will be decidedly close.

This may not be the heavyweight fight we know or what casual fans expect, just because the skill level of these two men is pretty extraordinary. Usyk is a great technical boxer and so is Fury, who also has great size. This is a rare matchup.

Usyk has a weakness in his body as we’ve seen in the amateurs, I remember seeing a reel before he boxed Anthony Joshua and he really felt it in his body and had issues with it. People will look at what happened to Daniel Dubois and take that as further evidence, although to me there is no doubt it was foul play as his belt was sitting on his protector. If you get hit by a protector, it’s a foul, that’s the definition of it.

But I think people got more encouragement from it. He’s already physically damaged, so there’s reason to think it could happen again.

I don’t think either of them really have a clear weakness. Usyk is a difficult guy to hit with combinations, and a fighter who defends well and is both offensive and defensive is difficult to hit with combinations. You might hit them with one shot, but the second and third times that follow are almost never going to happen.

I think whoever it is will be the undisputed and worthy heavyweight champion. When you look back and trace the lineage, obviously if you go back in time, there’s only one title, one championship. We do not use the word “indisputable” because there is no need and it is completely redundant.

But then you see the fight between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston at the time, the first fight was the WBC and the WBA, and then in the second fight, one of the belts was taken away . From then on, the matter was beyond dispute. Joe Frazier did it, George Foreman did it, Muhammad Ali did it. And then no one did it until Mike Tyson did it.

It’s a very, very difficult thing to do, so if you do do it, you have to take huge credit no matter what people think of your opposition. But speaking of these two, they are two outstanding warriors. Usyk has beaten Joshua twice already – and the criticism Joshua gets is ridiculous, in my opinion – Fury’s trilogy against Deontay Wilder is once again epic stuff.

I definitely think whoever wins this fight (which I guess we’ll see again) is 100% worthy of a spot in the pantheon.

It’s one of the biggest sporting events in a generation. Tyson Fury and Alexander Usyk Live on Saturday, May 18 for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world sky sports box office. Book a fight now.