The recent Fury vs Ngannou fight in Saudi Arabia has again rekindled the much touted and expected world heavyweight unification fight between the champion, British boxer Tyson Fury and the Ukrainian fighter Alexander Usyk.
Although Fury got much more than he bargained for against the MM artist Cameroonian Ngannou, he (Fury) still went ahead to win the fight on points, controversially though. The fight though not as inspiring as you would expect of a world heavyweight fight, was still worth watching as it sought to ‘unify’ world HW boxing with mixed martial arts (MMA).
After the trouncing of Connor McGregor by Floyd Mayweather via TKO in 2017, it was clear that boxers have a slight edge against MMA stars when it comes to a boxing bout. Ngannou has proven this theory wrong though by holding himself very well and taking Fury to the distance in their boxing match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last October. In fact, unofficial decisions from boxing analysts and non-judges have it that Ngannou was robbed of victory. Indeed, if Fury was fit to fight MMA star Ngannou, one wonders why he is ‘dodging’ a fight with Usyk even if to prove that he (Fury) is the best heavyweight boxer alive?
The boxing world is eager to see what will happen when Fury and Usyk square up in the ring to unify the WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO world heavyweight belts. Will it happen?
Equally, the world deserves a HW boxing title fight between former champions Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder which also promises to be an epic battle of hard hitters. The two bouts will surely showcase the best of world HW boxing. For sure, one can expect a knockout in at least one of them, likely the Joshua V Wilder fight. Most times, HW boxing doesn’t go the distance. It could be a one-shot fight unlike the lower middleweights that are usually punch-for-punch long haul fights which stretches to the last round.
It is highly likely that Fury could knockout Usyk or at least win via a unanimous decision. Usyk is a very talented boxer who reads his opponents and scores with literally every shot but he will find a more intelligent fighter in Fury who equally reads his opponent very well, absorbs all sorts of shots and has a huge size advantage. Usyk will find Fury a very hard nut to crack and he (Usyk) could be frustrated and lose the fight at the end. Fury has been around so much and with lots of experience to lose to Usyk. He has successfully gone through Vladimir Klitschko, trilogy against Deontay Wilder and several heavyweight greats but Usyk could be younger, fresher and fitter.
For Joshua V Wilder, it is a fight of two hard hitters and will come down to who hits the hardest. If Wilder opens his defence and allows Joshua to sneak in his traditional upper cut killer punch, it could be all over for Wilder between the third and sixth rounds. On the other hand, if Joshua loses his guard (as he often do: example in his lose to Andy Ruiz in Saudi Arabia in 2019), Wilder could unleash his devastating right hand sledge hammer overhead shot which will destabilise Joshua for sure. Both fighters lost their last fights (Wilder was subdued by Fury in the trilogy and Joshua was outclassed by Usyk in both fights). This means both fighters will be very hungry for a win which will make the fight more interesting.
The two fights (Fury V Usyk and Joshua V Wilder) will be money spinning mega events and at least one of them (or both) may be staged in Saudi Arabia. Boxing fans around the world will eagerly await the two bouts and the impact of both fights will certainly upgrade and redefine HW boxing in the eyes of the world.
