Exclusive: Lennox Lewis says 'only Tyson Fury can beat himself' ahead of clash with 'thinking boxer' Oleksandr Usyk
Updated 16/05/2024 at 18:05 GMT+1
Lennox Lewis is tipping Tyson Fury to overcome Oleksandr Usyk in their undisputed heavyweight title clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which will be live on TNT Sports Box Office. Lewis was the last man to hold the undisputed heavyweight title, and drew parallels between Fury and his own career. Lewis also highlighted how Usyk will approach the fight, and the importance of utilising his ringcraft.
‘Only Fury can defeat himself’ - Lewis previews Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk
Video credit: TNT Sports
Lennox Lewis believes victory is in Tyson Fury’s hands ahead of the undisputed heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh this weekend.
Lewis was the last man to hold the undisputed heavyweight status after defeating Evander Holyfield in 1999 to take the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, along with the vacant IBO belt.
He believes “only Fury can defeat himself” ahead of their hotly anticipated showdown in the Saudi Arabian capital - live on TNT Sports Box Office.
The undercard coverage starts from 15:00 BST, while the ring walks for the main event are expected to take place around 23:00.
“Only Fury can defeat himself in that sense because he’s got all the attributes of a champion,” he told TNT Sports Boxing expert Steve Bunce in an exclusive interview in Saudi Arabia.
“He moves well, he’s elusive, boxes from south paw orthodox. So, he needs to bring all those things together in this fight.”
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‘The guy is just built differently’ – George Warren tips Fury to ‘find a way’ and beat Usyk
Video credit: TNT Sports
Lewis explained that Fury is in a similar situation to himself at the height of his career, and feels that his subsequent defeats were by his own doing.
“Yes, all the defeats are down to me," Lewis said. "They were good lessons because from defeat I had to show people I’m a true champion, that I can come back again.
“If I didn’t lose, I wouldn’t be as great as I am today.”
Lewis also reviewed how he thought the fight would progress and highlighted the contrasting styles which both boxers will bring to the ring.
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“You've got two guys with two completely different styles; the first round they're going to feel each other out, second round they're going to feel each out,” he explained.
“The third round is when they're going to start the boxing, and start listening to their corners.
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‘He is watching’ - Lewis feels Usyk will be forensic in his approach to Fury fight
Video credit: TNT Sports
“I think the fight won't really get started until the fourth round because these guys have completely different styles and they have to warm into those styles.
“It depends how Usyk comes out because he may come out aggressively and try to push Tyson Fury around, or Tyson Fury might come out aggressive and try to push him around.
“Both of them are trying to hold their own ground. That is a chess match.”
Lewis explained what Usyk will need to do in order to cause an upset on the night, but feels that Fury will do enough to get the job done on points.
"They have to [stamp their authority on the fight]," Lewis said. "Usyk has to. I see him kind of dancing around, trying to find some way in, trying to find some weak point to Tyson Fury. That’s how he boxes, he’s a thinking boxer.
“He’s getting a sense of Tyson Fury, how he moves and what he’s going to be doing. He’s watching his body motions, trying to catch a vibe. Not taking his eyes off him, that’s what I’d do when I go out into the ring. I’ve got my eyes on my opponent all the time.
“I think it’ll be a close fight. I think Tyson Fury should win on points. It’s going to be an unbelievable fight. It always is when you’ve got two undefeated guys who know nothing about losing.”
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'I deliver on the big occasions' - Fury confident ahead of Usyk clash
Video credit: TNT Sports
Lewis gave an insight into the motivation which both fighters will have to become the undisputed champion, the incentive to remove any doubt regarding who is the best world title holder.
“It's hard to bring all the belts together. I said to myself that I wanted to clean up the division and I did before I left," he explained.
“It's always hard and this is why it's been 25 years to come together to try and win the undisputed because the promoters are happy having a champion and they don't care if you have all the belts, one belt or two.
“As long as you have a belt that so they can publicise and say 'hey we have the heavyweight champion', but there's two or three heavyweight champions. I didn't like that fact, so that's why I had to bring them all together.
“There's always going to be that argument; that's why I didn't want the argument to come into my history. I didn't want people getting their haircut and someone saying: 'oh, who's the champion? And they would say: [Evander] Holyfield, [Mike] Tyson, [Lennox] Lewis.
“There's always that argument because each one of us has our fans that who will fight for us and talk up for us.”
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'The best fighter I've fought' - Fury says he's giving Usyk the 'respect he deserves'
Video credit: TNT Sports
An undisputed heavyweight fight may have been taken 25 years to come around again, and Lewis praised the hard graft both fighters to get to this point.
“This is what these guys fought for and if you look at both of them, they're both undefeated.
“There were a couple of close fights where they both could've lost, but they're still undefeated and it's great that they've worked their way to this point.
“Now we can see who's going to be undisputed. There has to be one winner and both guys are winners. In this fight, there can only be one winner.”
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‘This fight is everything’ – Hearn says Fury v Usyk will be one of boxing’s ‘great moments’
Video credit: TNT Sports
How to watch Fury v Usyk in the UK
Fury v Usyk on TNT Sports Box Office costs £24.99 in the UK and can be watched on discovery+, EE TV, Virgin Media TV and Prime Video.
You do not need to be a TNT Sports subscriber to buy this event.
discovery+ - TNT Sports Box Office events are now available to purchase and watch in the discovery+ app – on smart TV’s, computer or mobile device, viewers wanting to watch the fight should visit https://www.discoveryplus.com/gb/ppv-purchases and follow instructions to subscribe and then purchase the event.
Virgin Media TV - Customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV 360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View events rail.
EE TV - Customers can purchase the event via their STB on channel 494.
Prime Video - This TNT Sports Box Office event will now be available to buy and watch on Prime Video in the UK. Customers do not need to have any channel or Prime subscription to access. You can find live and upcoming PPV events in the “Live and upcoming events” row on the Prime Video homepage and sports page, or by searching for a specific event title.
What time will Fury v Usyk start and when are ring walks?
Fury and Usyk will meet in Riyadh on Saturday, May 18.
The live coverage of the event will start at 14:30 UK time on TNT Sports Box Office with a stacked undercard ahead of the headline fight.
The ring walk for Fury v Usyk is expected to be around 23:00 UK time.
Live coverage details
TNT Sports Box Office coverage will be presented by Laura Woods alongside Carl Frampton, David Haye and Steve Bunce with commentary from Darren Fletcher and Richie Woodall.
Three early bouts will also be broadcast, available for anyone to watch, on TNT Sports 3 and TNT Sports Box Office.
The Weigh In will also be broadcast on TNT Sports 1 and YouTube on Friday, May 17 at 18:45 UK time, and will feature insight from the last undisputed heavyweight world champion, Lennox Lewis.
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