Usyk vs Fury 2: Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury look to settle their rivalry in heavyweight championship rematch | Boxing news

The length of a beard, kissing a cross, or who won a look down seem like such small matters that arguing about them seems beyond petty.

But Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are the two greatest heavyweights in the world today. And when it comes to their rivalry they want to win at all points.

Fury had never lost as a professional boxer until he met Usyk in Riyadh earlier this year. That thunderous fight in May decided the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years and the first of the four-belt era.

It was Usyk who won a split but convincing decision and secured his place in the history books.

Fury now wants the WBO, WBC and WBA world titles back in his possession Sky Sports box office the rematch on Saturday night. He wants to prove that there is no man who can beat him, and he wants to extend his own legacy, establishing himself as the undisputed master of the comeback.

So what does a beard matter?

The argument was apparently about whether Fury’s full beard could dampen the force of a punch or interfere with the trajectory of a punch. That’s conceivable, but when you consider that Usyk has become a heavyweight and hurt Fury so badly in the first fight, only the ropes, in his famous ninth round, prevented him from crashing into the canvas, it is unlikely to be a problem for the big Ukrainian.

The argument is about something else. This is Usyk’s team looking to take an element out of Fury. The Briton has gone into what he describes as “beast mode” for this training camp. His entourage has shrunk, Fury shut himself off in Malta for his preparations barely speaking to his wife and family.

This week in Riyadh, leather-jacketed and bearded, Fury has been belligerent and almost inappropriate with those outside his circle. It comes because of the “war” that threatened at the weigh-in.

He wants to knock Usyk out of the heavyweight division to drop back down to cruiserweight. “He’ll need it,” Fury said Sky Sports. “I’m going to beat him up real bad.”

This version of Tyson Fury, even more menacing than before, should be an improved fighter.

“You’re going to see a better one this time, I think for sure. I think I’m definitely going to be better than last time and I don’t have to be much better because it was a really tough fight,” he said.

The first fight was well balanced. In May, Fury seemed to relish a heavyweight contest of the highest caliber. Buoyed by his entrance, he put on a show in the ring and insisted he thrived on the atmosphere.

“I enjoyed the whole fight. The occasion. Being in the ring. Great entrance, great entertainment. Overall I thought it was a great performance from me. Even watching it I thought it was a great performance. I had some good performances and I know I didn’t get the W. But I still thought it was an excellent performance for myself. From 1 to 10 I thought I did a 10”, go Fury insisted.

Then the showboating might have been a mistake. He was doing it to show how good a boxer he was, to try to compensate and confuse Usyk and maybe even to buy himself some space and breathing space.

It was a facade, a trick, that Usyk didn’t fall for. He stuck to his work. He took her licks, painful ones too, for the first half of the fight, and as he had promised he would, he didn’t leave Fury alone.

But eliminating that, with more enforcement and defensive adjustment, could make all the difference. Although the Briton thought he was the best he had boxed in years, he needs to make some vital adjustments for the rematch.

“Sometimes you look at a fight and think I didn’t perform well, I could do better next time if I did this, that and that,” Fury said.

“But for this form of boxing I don’t think I did anything wrong. I thought I put on an excellent performance and I know I’ve seen reports that say Tyson fell backwards, he’s in decline and this and that other, but I didn’t. Don’t show it in this fight if I am.

“I thought it was probably the best performance I’ve had in the last five years. Since Wilder II for sure and that’s almost five years ago.”

It should be disheartening to think that he boxed nearly as well as he ever has and yet suffered his first loss. This shows how good Usyk is. But Fury seemed strangely energized by the challenge of facing him again.

If Usyk’s team wanted to strip the beard, the persona Fury has adopted, of their rival, the British team were looking to take a source of inspiration from their rival.

During the first bout, under intense pressure with the match heavy and hard, Usyk sat in his corner between rounds, looked up at the sky and kissed a cross.

Usyk told the media this week: “This cross was a gift from the great monk in one of the Greek monasteries, where I go. This cross gives me strength and leads me to victory.”

Whether it was the cross that led him, or his own spirit, he excelled and cut his way to victory.

Of course, all it takes is the wrong camera angle and an unknown object being pressed to a fighter’s lips to fuel the speculation. Therefore, Fury’s team argued, any kissed cross in Usyk’s corner should be removed for testing to negate any suspicion.

That might be a reasonable point. But this feud still hinges on one small item, something Usyk wants and something Fury’s side doesn’t want him to have.

These are only the first skirmishes before the championship contest, and the fight will not be decided by them.

Usyk, of course, has other sources of inspiration. He is devoted, carries his country’s flag with him and is proud to represent his people. The memory of his father, who never lived to see him become a world champion, also drives him.

“Of course he is present. He could never be different after all he did for me. But now he comes to me less in my dreams, or hardly at all, because I told him he shouldn’t: ” , Usyk said of his father.

“But maybe he will appear closer to the fight. But I remember him, I often think about him, I look at his photos. He is always with me. I think he is still with me, he is sitting somewhere, maybe he is sitting behind this boy. so you can see me better.”

Usyk always stands apart. He is a difficult man to read, who certainly commits, but always on his terms. Fury likes to trap opponents in psychological games, but Usyk is the only one who never seems to play.

The Ukrainian strives to improve himself. It revealed something of his mindset when he said that Sky Sports: “Life goes in cycles. You either try to live righteously and do the right thing, or you don’t and end up a nobody.

“We’re all flawed, we all have problems. We’re all vicious to some extent. But some of us at least try, get something better. For God’s sake. While others don’t even bother.

“That’s how I would put it. A bee doesn’t need to prove to a fly that honey is better than garbage. But the fly will always argue that garbage is better than honey.”

He opens something of himself, but it seems that the real Usyk is something well hidden behind the riddles.

While the battle of skill, technique and physicality between them can only take place within the allotted 12 rounds of their fights, the battle of wills has stretched from the last bout to this one.

This was exemplified in the extraordinarily prolonged stare in which both men were locked after the final press conference.

It started intense, lasted so long that it began to seem absurd, and then stretched even further until it was magnificent again.

You wondered what they saw when they looked at each other. They certainly didn’t see the nervous crowd of men around them wondering how to intervene, how to separate the two without offending either fighter or triggering an escalation that couldn’t be contained.

They did not see each other. Both men are completely opposite characters, although their pride and hostility are supported by a little articulated respect for their rival.

They can’t have been seeing the future or Saturday night’s fight. If their minds had been elsewhere, it would eventually have been easy for one to turn away and move on.

Instead, they must have only seen that moment. Suddenly, each had decided that he would not be the one to break, look first, or falter. So they stared and will continue to stare at the image they see of each other from now until the fight and for as long as it lasts, until they see each other at the end.

Oleksandr Usyk v Tyson Fury’s big rematch will be live on Saturday 21st December on Sky Sports Box Office. Pre-order Usyk v Fury 2 now!