Usyk v Fury 2: Tyson Fury can become 'generational great' with win over Oleksandr Usyk in title rematch - Eddie Hearn
Updated 19/12/2024 at 13:17 GMT
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn wants the British public to get behind Tyson Fury for his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk for the unified world heavyweight title. Fury lost out to the Ukrainian on points in their first bout in May, and Hearn believes that Fury can change his legacy with a victory on Saturday night. Watch the hotly-anticipated rematch live on TNT Sports Box Office on Saturday.
Fury exclusive: 'Gypsy King' vows to ‘destroy’ Usyk
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Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn believes that Tyson Fury can become a "generational great" with victory over Oleksandr Usyk in their highly-anticipated rematch on Saturday, December 21 – live on TNT Sports Box Office.
Fury suffered the first defeat of his fine boxing career in the first title fight via split-decision as Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, Hearn believes that Fury can be considered as one of the greats of the sport if he manages to avenge his disappointing loss in May.
"This is the epitome of boxing," he said. "The unified world heavyweight championship between two generational greats. A Tyson Fury victory on Saturday night would be such a shot in the arm for British boxing and British sport.
"Usyk is a confirmed generational great. He won the undisputed cruiserweight championship, and he went up and beat everybody at heavyweight to become undisputed. This is the fight that makes Fury the generational great.
"This is the fight that puts him in the category of the greats that walked before across the generations. So let’s get behind him. The reality is these fighters make a huge sacrifice and whatever you think about Tyson Fury, whatever he’s said in the past on a good or bad day, he’s given everything for this moment.
"And you know how much he wants to win on Saturday night. So make sure you tune in and get behind the Brit! Tyson Fury to do the business."
Hearn believes Usyk is the more consistent performer on the biggest stage, but added that Fury deserves more credit and recognition for his previous bouts where he came away victorious against Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder.
"I don’t know how you can pick against Oleksandr Usyk," he explained. "He’s an unbelievable downloader of data, but instantly. Not that we’ll go away and watch tape; he does it on the spot and that’s why he’s so good. He has the ability to just change and switch tactics.
"When he has more time, it becomes even more dangerous and, for me, my heart says Tyson Fury, but my head says Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk seems to have this strange aura and speaks of confidence. I’ve never heard him talk about how good he is… ‘I will stop him, yes I am the best’ – I’ve not really seen that before.
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‘And still!’ – Usyk insistent he will beat Fury again
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"Fury looks calm and fit, I’m changing my mind, and I’m going to go for Tyson Fury. This fight is about extraordinary things. Usyk always does extraordinary things, but every now and again, Fury is capable of the most remarkable things.
"The Klitschko victory in Germany – it was so long ago now that we don’t talk about that victory enough. At the time, he didn’t have the same profile, but what he did that night was unbelievable. What AJ [Anthony Joshua] did against Klitschko was also unbelievable, but Fury did go to Germany. He won every round.
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"It was unbelievable what he did. Then fast-forward to the Wilder fight and I thought he’d get smashed in the Wilder fight. The first one, he won that but was very unlucky, and the second fight was unbelievable how he stepped on the front foot.
"He has the ability on the night to win this fight. What did that last fight take out of them? And who did it take more out of? This fight has nothing to do with training camp; this is just on the night. I’m just going to switch it and go for Tyson Fury.
"I want him to win anyway, but I’ve just got a funny feeling that he’s going to do it. This is going to be close, and it might be controversial, but unless someone gets stopped – which I don’t see – I think this is a 7-5 kind of fight and when that happens, anything can happen."
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'Prepared for the party' - Usyk promoter Krassyuk previews Fury rematch
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'He drains you with his feet, he drains you with his feints'
The Matchroom promoter has seen what damage Usyk can do up close and personal, especially after the Ukrainian defeated his fighter Anthony Joshua on two separate occasions.
Hearn warned Fury that the reigning champion only gets better as the fight continues and broke down how both men might approach the rematch.
"Fury is an emotional guy," he said. "He’s up and down and that’s the best way to describe him. But if he’s up, he might be unbeatable. Don’t forget last time that they had the issue with the cut, probably wasn’t able to spar the same way, and you just don’t know where he’s at.
"I go back to AJ, and we had a great camp against [Daniel] Dubois, we were really confident. We knew it was a tough fight and we got well beat. That’s high level performance; it’s getting it right on the night. The problem is you know that Usyk is not not going to get it right.
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'All great dance partners have trilogies' - Fury eyes third Usyk bout, rules out retirement
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"He’s not going to go in there and perform badly, because when has he ever done it? Maybe you look at the [Derek] Chisora fight behind closed doors, and he wasn’t at his very best against Dubois but he finds a way.
"This fight is all about the second half of the fight. Usyk is unbelievable in the second half of the fight. He drains you with his feet, he drains you with his feints, he makes you overthink and he gasses you out of the back end of the fight.
"In the first fight, I thought Fury was up after the first six rounds and I thought he was going to stop him. And then Usyk just bang! We saw it against AJ in the second fight after nine rounds. I thought we’d got it but 10, 11, 12 [he was] unbelievable. Even going back to Tony Bellew fight, Bellew was winning that fight after six or seven rounds, and all of a sudden, just done him and gassed him out.
"It’s going to be really interesting, the tactics in this fight. Fury boxed off the back foot in the first fight and Bellew walked him down and beat him up, something that I didn’t think he’d be able to do.
"If you say stick it on him, it’s one of the worst things you can go against Usyk, because he’ll just counter punch you and he’ll stay within that ring and that will suit him down to the ground."
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