Otto Wallin is picking Tyson Fury to defeat IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in their undisputed championship fight seven weeks from now on February 17th.
Fury has been hard at work, trying to take the pounds off, and judging from a recent video of him, he’s got a long way to go before he’s reduced his waistline enough to give him a chance of beating the disciplined Usyk, who lives a spartan lifestyle.
Fury’s form: A question mark
Wallin doesn’t give any reason for why he’s picking the 35-year-old Fury (34-0-1, 24 KO) to defeat Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), because common sense tells you that Tyson has nothing left in the tank after his recent performance against Francis Ngannou coupled with the fact that he’s been padding his record since his third fight with Deontay Wilder.
Fury’s last three fights have been against these three:
– Francis Ngannou
– Dereck Chisora: *journeyman
– Dillian Whyte: ditto
Those three fights have consumed the last two years of Fury’s career, and he looked a textbook example of an over-the-hill fighter against boxing novice Ngannou last October, winning a ten round split decision in Saudi Arabia.
A Clash of Styles
There are many doubts about whether Fury has enough left for him to come out ahead of Usyk, who is fighting on a higher level.
One major thing going against Fury winning is that he’s been transformed into a slug by his coach, SugarHill Steward, going from being a boxer to a simple, everyday, run-of-the-mill mauler who just grabs, leans, and clubs his opponents; it’s disappointing to see.
Anthony Joshua had the good sense to dump coaches if they weren’t helping him. Fury hasn’t done that. He’s stuck it out with SugarHill, going downhill but only winning because of the weak opposition his promoters have matched him with.
Before SugarHill got ahold of Fury, he was a mover who would dance around the ring, flicking jabs and doing enough to get the wins against lackluster opposition.
SugarHill changed Fury’s style completely, giving him a fighting style normally seen by older, chunky heavyweights without much talent.
Unfortunately, that approach is all wrong for someone going up against a talented boxer like Usyk, which is why Fury could be heading for defeat unless the judges save him.
Tyson got lucky in his last fight against Ngannou in Saudi Arabia, so maybe the judges will save him again, but I wouldn’t bank on it. Usyk could make a monkey out of Fury, and there’s no way he’ll win a decision with the kind of boxing lesson he’ll receive from the talented three-belt champion.
Is Wallin’s pick wishful thinking?
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Usyk, especially now after being in with Joshua. He did a really good job with Joshua,” said Otto Wallin to Boxing News when asked for a prediction on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury fight on February 17th.
Usyk totally schooled Joshua in their two fights, outboxing him from A to B and showing that he didn’t belong in the same ring with him.
Joshua was so messed up after the second loss to Usyk that he appeared to crack mentally, grabbing his belts and tossing them out of the ring. AJ then snatched the microphone and started blabbering a bunch of incoherent nonsense. Could this be Fury’s fate after Usyk is done with him?
“I think that’ll [Fury vs. Usyk] will be a really good fight. I always said that Tyson is going to win, and I’m going to stick to that,” Wallin continued. “It’s heavyweight boxing. You never know.
“Usyk is an extremely good fighter. Tyson is good, and we’ll see. I’ll still go with Fury, but it’ll be a really good fight. If Usyk can beat Fury, then that’s really an amazing career that he’s had,” said Wallin.
