Trainer Don Charles predicts that the grappling, smothering & leaning tactics Tyson Fury has come to rely on to win his fights in the last three years will be effective against IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk because he has the wrestling background to shrug him off the way that ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou easily did.
At this point in the Gyspy King Fury’s career, he’s like a giant sea lamprey, looking to grab and drain the life out of its prey.
If Fury can’t do that, he’s helpless because his legs are gone, and he can’t punch to save his life. Luckily for Fury, Usyk is a small heavyweight with zero wrestling skills to fight him off once he starts with the grabbing/mauling.
Charles says that Ngannou took away Fury’s smothering/grappling game, which has become the mainstay of his style, and when he couldn’t use that, the cupboard was bare. There was nothing else Fury could use against Ngannou.
Usyk, a small heavyweight weighing around 220 lbs, won’t be able to deal with the Kodiak bear-sized Fury, and he’ll be helpless when he’s wrapped up repeatedly in his cacoon of horror in their undisputed championship fight in February or whenever they meet next year.
It’ll be impossible for Usyk to pry the 270+ lb Fury off him once he grabs and starts leaning all his tonnage on him. The referee will have a busy night trying to get Fury to let go during his clinches because he’s going to be trying to wear down Usyk like he did against Deontay Wilder & Dillian Whyte.
“Part of Tyson Fury’s game that normally worked for him. When he tried to put Ngannou in a hold to tie him up, Ngannou just shrugged him off because he’s used to grappling,” said Don Charles to Secondsout, discussing how Tyson Fury couldn’t rely on his mauling tactics against Francis Ngannou to try and beat him.
It was obvious during the press conferences that Fury wouldn’t be able to use his bread-and-butter mauling tactics against Ngsnnou during their fight, as you could see the difference in strength when the two came head & head.
Fury pressed his head against the 270+ lb Ngannou and attempted to push him back, but he was too weak to do so. From that, one could see that Fury wouldn’t be able to grapple his way to victory against Ngannou like he’d done against Wilder.
Fury used to be an excellent mover when he was younger, but the combination of age, weight gain, and the effects of Earth’s gravity bearing down on the 6’9″ bear-like British heavyweight have done a number on him.
The years of stuffing his piehole with rich foods have taken its toll on Fury, so he’s not going to be able to transport himself back to 2015 to be the fighter he used to be, but he won’t need to against Usyk.
“So Tyson Fury’s game plan is, he’ll hit you, he’ll smother you, hold you, tie you up and lean on you,” said Charles. “Ngannou wouldn’t allow him to use any of the things that normally work for him. I promise you that he’ll use that against Usyk, the same tactics, and it’ll work.
“Okay, Usyk is not a grappler; he’s not a wrestler. So he won’t have the ability to shrug Fury off with ease. Ngannou did it with such ease. So that threw Fury off obviously because the things that normally work for him suddenly he wasn’t able to do it to this opponent,” said Don.
Usyk is a boxer, not a grappler like Fury, so he’s going to have problems when he gets close enough to be engulfed by the massive heavyweight. The best hope for Usyk is to stay on the move, jab, and avoid standing still for any length of time.
If Usyk throws any power shots, Fury will use the opportunity to grab him and begin with the mauling process. Fury is like a paramecium in some respects, as any prey that comes close gets snatched up and can’t escape.
“I could actually see Dereck [Chisora] having a rumble with this guy. I would back my guy all day long against someone like Francis Ngannou,” said Charles when asked about his thoughts on the 39-year-old journeyman Dereck Chisora potentially fighting Ngannou on December 23rd in Saudi Arabia.
Boxing fans would be disgusted by the idea of Chisora fighting Francis Ngannou next rather than a quality heavyweight because doesn’t deserve that fight, and there would be very little interest from U.S. fans in that spectacle.
“Without a shadow of a doubt,” said Charles when asked if Ngannou could compete against Anthony Joshua & Deontay Wilder. “Whether he would beat them is another question, whether he’ll be successful again.
“Like I said. Tyson Fury, the way he fights, the things that normally work for Tyson didn’t work for Ngannou. Whereas these other fighters that you mentioned [Joshua & Wilder], they don’t have what Tyson has, but they also have got what they got, but can they compete? Yes, they can.
“Can Francis Ngannou operate in the top 20 of elite boxers? Yes, he can. He belongs there. I wouldn’t put it past him. How could I doubt him after his performance against the #1 heavyweight in the world? I wouldn’t put it past him,” said Charles on whether Ngannou would have a chance against Joshua & Wilder.
