Undisputed Bout: Between Cat And Gypsy King

By Kunle Awosiyan

Saudi Arabia will make a record on Saturday when the WBC and Lineal Champion,Tyson Fury will face the unified champion, Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed status in the boxing heavyweight division.

This is coming over two decades that British Lennox Lewis captured this title and since then, no match of this magnitude had happened.

It was supposed to happen in February but due to Fury’s injury, the match was postponed till this Saturday May 18.

But my fear is Fury again who walked out of the press conference on crutches a few days to this epic bout.

His father John Fury also sustained injury while trying to head boot one of Usyk’s fans. He had since apologised.

I hope these were no plans by the Britons to opt out of the bout again.

For more than 20 years, the boxing world has waited enough to see an undisputed fight in this highest division of boxing.

Has the Fury seen the sign that the match may not go his way, then he should thrash the WBC belt and make that position vacant for those who are ready to fight.

His recent statements of praising Usyk as the best he would be fighting in his career should not be coming at this time.

He knew before now that Usyk is an Olympic gold medalist, a former cruiserweight undisputed champion who has remained unbeaten throughout his career.

The world expects brain game not praises at this time, perhaps to know how prepared are the two boxers for this bout. This is not the Fury of the past who would have torn his opponents apart before stepping into the ring to fight.

He predicted Usyk’s victory against Anthony Joshua and it happened, which suggests that he knows the capability of the Cat very well.

Domestic cats are good boxers. They are clever, fast and strong and having watched Usyk’s fights severally, one cannot but agree that he is a real cat in the ring but then he is not a big cat of lion and tiger stature. Usyk is a small cat compared to Fury, whom for me is a big dog in this bout.

Fury should go into this fight like a Pitbull if he must become the next undisputed.

He cannot outbox Usyk , no way, but he can fight brutally like a Pitbull and wound Usyk.

Billed “Ring of Fire”, Saturday’s undisputed bout will live its name by what Fury is bringing to the ring not what Usyk is bringing.

Usyk has got the better ring IQ, skills and footwork, which with quality game plan will be too much for Fury to handle. He’s not coming to create any smoke. He is coming with tricks and wisdom to outwit the Fury and go home as undisputed.

However, the Briton should be able to set up the Ukrainian for one big blow that can rattle the Cat.

What the Gypsy King needs is to take a leaf from his compatriot, Derek Chisora who first had a decent fight with Usyk.

Chisora knocked down Usyk in the fight even though he lost to the Ukrainian, the bout should be a good lesson for anybody who is set to fight Usyk.

What Chisora lacks, Fury has got in his athleticism, vision and stamina but then the Gypsy King needs 100 per cent concentration and professionalism to make anything out of the epic show.