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The two heavyweight giants are set to go head-to-head in a blockbuster rematch in December, with Fury desperate to avenge his defeat to the Ukrainian star
David Adeleye believes undefeated star Oleksandr Usyk cannot be “bullied”, serving as a warning to Tyson Fury ahead of their blockbuster rematch in December.
‘The Gypsy King’ suffered the first defeat of his professional career against the Ukrainian back in May, losing via split-decision. Ahead of the sequel, the Brit has suggested he will pile on the weight for his rematch with Usyk. Despite claiming that he was in the best shape of his life for the first clash, the 36-year-old has hinted he will weigh almost 20stone for the second encounter.
Fury is confident he will get the job done later this year and has revealed he’ll change up his style in order to get his hand raised. He has insisted that only a knockout will do this time around and he doesn’t want to rely on the judges scorecards in order to become a heavyweight world champion for the third time in his career.
“I needed to get Wilder out of there or he got me out of there and that’s the type of fight it had to be. It had to be a 50/50 gunsling with the biggest puncher in history or else he’d have chinned me in round nine. Going into the rematch with Usyk, it’s going to be the same,” he said. “I’m going to roll the dice and it’s going to be you or me… best foot forward and swing away. I’ve never been afraid to get knocked spark out. I’ve always put it on the line every time.”
He added: “There’s no secret! I’m going in there to knock you out because I don’t think I’m going to get a decision no matter what I do. I don’t think I’m going to get a boxing decision, so I’m going to have to take it out of the judges hands like I did in America that time and I’ve got to get him (Usyk) out of there. Hand on heart, I have to get him out of there to see victory.”
In what promises to be an epic night of boxing on December 21, many are already chomping at the bit to see how the rematch will play out. A fellow heavyweight himself, Adeleye has offered his insight regarding the clash in December.
The 27-year-old, who holds a professional record of 12-1, shared his views with Mirror Fighting. Speaking ahead of Artur Beterbiev’s showdown with Dmitry Bivol, which will be shown live on TNT Sports Box Office, Adeleye said: “I do feel like Fury’s got the attributes to beat Usyk, but it’s just about whether or not you Usyk is going to allow him to use them attributes. I don’t know what’s going to happen in rematch. I really do believe I don’t know what’s going to happen. You know, Fury can come out with a different sort of mindset.
“I mean, look, you’ve seen it with Fury against Wilder. The first fight was obviously scored a draw, but he reaches the second fight, it was a completely different Fury, you know? And that fight was literally one sided. So look, Fury can come back thinking ‘look, they gave it to him this time around. I don’t want that happening. It’s not going to the judges scorecards.’ And we might have a Fury that uses his size and oppose himself on Usyk and lets his hands go. Usyk might be there thinking, ‘look, I got him around nine, and I could have stopped him. This time, I’m going to go out there and actually stop him.’”
While ‘The Gypsy King’ has implied that he may opt to bulk up and pile on the weight, Adeleye has issued a warning to Fury and believes that the undefeated Ukrainian cannot be bullied. “Usyk’s not small, a lot of people say he’s not a heavyweight, but Usyk is not small,” he continued. “And, I mean, when you see them in the ring together, they don’t look like they’re in different weight divisions. A lot of people use that ‘Usyk’s a small guy.’ Fury is obviously bigger than him and, like I said, he can impose himself on him, but Usyk’s not small. He’s not going to get bullied in there. So a lot of people have got to remember that.”
The full undercard for Fury vs Usyk II was recently announced. Undefeated heavyweight Moses Itauma will return to the ring on December 21 against Demsey McKean. The youngster comes into the contest off the back of a devastating win against Mariusz Wach and will be looking to extend his perfect record. Also on the undercard, an all-British heavyweight showdown between Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen is set to take place. An exciting contest between Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk will serve as the co-main event.
Watch Fabio Wardley v Frazer Clarke on the Beterbiev v Bivol undercard, live on TNT Sports Box Office from 5:30pm on Saturday. Find out more at tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice
