Written by: @TheGooseMMA

FURY V USYK: UNDISPUTED

Finally, the Top 2 heavyweights in the world will collide, for all the gold.

This Saturday we finally get to find out who the undisputed baddest man on the planet really is. England’s Gypsy King Tyson Fury will meet Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with the undisputed heavyweight title on the line. This is the first time the undisputed title has been fought over since 1999, when England’s Lennox Lewis beat American Evander Holyfield to take home all the gold.

A fight that’s seemed years in the making.

It seems like we have waited ages for this fight to take place. The call-outs between the two fighters go back years. In 2022, talks got underway for the fight to take place between the two unbeaten heavyweights and Usyk accepted a 70/30 purse split in favor of Fury. Until Team Fury moved the goalposts and the talented Ukrainian decided to walk away from negotiations, having had enough of Fury’s games. Rumored negotiations took place again in December 2022, when Usyk even used Fury’s real first name to call out “The Gypsy King”, telling reporters “Obviously I have been coming for Luke for a long time and we have been watching him during the amateurs and as a professional. I was watching him when I was a cruiserweight. I have my own records. I wish him a lot of love, health, happiness, patience and warm wind. Borracho, I’m coming for you.” Borracho is Spanish for drunk. They also faced off after Fury’s win against Derek Chisora in London, when Usyk got up on the ring apron and stared Fury down. The Brit went on an incredible rant, telling his rival: “Usyk, you’re next you little b****. You are next. Me and you next. You’re next. Rabbit! P****! 15-stone little midget bodybuilder. Well, I ain’t a bodybuilder, I’m going to write you off. You ugly little man. Let’s get it on, b****. You may laugh now but I’ll end this lil’ sucker. I’ll end you. You little sucker. What are you gonna do? You’re gonna do f*** all, you little sausage.”.

A controversial cut delays the agreed date.

After a lot of negotiations following Fury’s narrow win against Francis Ngannou, a date was finally announced for the undisputed title fight to take place. February 18th in Saudi Arabia for all the gold. Fight fans around the world rejoiced as the fight we all wanted to see was finally going to take place. Like with so many big fights disaster struck, Two weeks before fight night Fury was cut in sparring by one of his sparring partners Agron Smakici. The Croatian landed and opened a gash above Fury’s right eye that required 11 stitches leaving organizers with no choice but to postpone the bout. Conspiracy theories did the usual rounds, some claiming that Fury had actually cut himself on purpose as a way to get out of the fight. But for this writer, I didn’t entertain any of the nonsense as one thing I will give Tyson Fury for all his antics, the man isn’t scared of a fight. You don’t take on Deontay Wilder three times at his peak, if you’re scared to fight. Fairly swiftly a new date of May 18th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was announced for the fight to finally take place. This time, to avoid any issues with a fighter pulling out, a ten million pound pull out penalty was inserted into both Fury and Usyks contract. Turki Alalshikh was not going to take any risks the second time around, after plowing money into promoting the original date for it to fall through two weeks before the event.

Finally we are here. This Saturday Fury & Usyk will collide.

Every man and his dog will have an opinion on how this fight plays out. A huge portion of boxing fans are firmly with Tyson Fury to prove that he is the number 1 heavyweight on the planet. Some follow the theory that he  has declined after the poor performance against Ngannou. Then of course mainly due to Fury’s own antics, people want to see him lose just so it shuts him up. I’ll give you my take later on in the article. Fury’s opponent Oleksandr Usyk is certainly not an opponent to take lightly. He has passed every test with flying colors in the heavyweight division. He moved up in weight following him unifying the cruiserweight division, in only 16 professional fights. Which included a stunning KO victory of the then WBC Champion England’s Tony Bellew.

As we approach the fight, just today the mind games started when Team Usyk lodged an official complaint about the ring canvas for this weekend’s fight. Making claims that the seams that join sections of the canvas together, as potential trip hazards! Is Usyk rattled? Or is it just part of the age old tactic of trying to throw your opponents concentration off by making these claims? Fury is a master of the dark arts, and I personally don’t think this will bother him one bit.

Saturday, we find out once and for all. Who the baddest man on the planet really is.

Who wins and how? “The Goose’s Edge” best bet.

I have always said that a small good guy still beats a bad big guy. No matter the size difference. Problem is for Usyk, Fury is bigger and he is also a fantastic fighter. I saw the Ngannou performance as a red herring. Fury didn’t train properly, took the fight too lightly and nearly got caught out. He will not make the same mistake with the super talented Ukrainian. BEST BET : Fury to win @ -110. LONG SHOT : Fury via split decision +900.