By Gareth Steven Mills: As far as last minute replacements go, Belarusian Alexander Ustinov is one of the better opponents that could have been picked for Tyson Fury this Saturday night. With the injury to Dereck Chisora and him having to pull out of their scheduled fight, it left Tyson Fury frustrated, opponent-less and not having fought for nearly a year and a half.
There must have been a pretty long list of heavyweights that would jump at the chance to make a name for themselves and take on Fury, especially considering that in some of his previous fights he has been knocked down and has, at times, looked vulnerable. When I heard the news that his promoters were going to look for another opponent, I imagined that they would have picked an opponent that would not be a risk to Fury, but in Alexander Ustinov I see an opponent that could cause problems for Fury and is by far the best opponent he has faced.
With a record of 28 wins with 21 of them coming from KO and only 1 loss, Ustinov is definitely a step up for Fury and could catch him off guard with his undoubted power, especially considering that Fury will not have a great deal of time to prepare for his 6ft 8inch opponent. With Chisora only measuring 6ft 1inches and not known for his power, all the sparring and preparation for fighting a smaller fighter has now gone to waste and Fury will be faced with the task of fighting a very different fight with little time to fine tune his tactics. Unlike against Chisora, he could afford to take a few shots and get caught on the odd occasion, but with Ustinov, he can’t be careless and if he gets caught with his big right hand, it could be lights out for Fury.
On the bright side for Fury, Ustinov is aged 37 so youth is definitely on the side of Fury. He also leaves his hands low so he could be open to taking a shot himself, or be dragged into the later rounds and pick apart the Belarusian giant.
Like him or loathe him, In my opinion it can’t be argued that Tyson Fury does put on a good fight. Whether it be his trash talking out of the ring, his fighting style or that he is a frequent visitor to the canvas, his fights do provide excitement and this Saturday might not be any different.
My prediction is that as long as Fury stays away from Ustinov’s big overhand right, he will dictate the pace of the fight and wear down Ustinov by around the 10th round and take it by a TKO decision.
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