If anyone can solve the puzzle that is Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk is the man according to Conor McGregor.
The two unbeaten prizefighters will do battle this Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a fight which, barring some unforeseen outcome, should crown boxing’s first undisputed heavyweight champ in a quarter century.
Both men have reasonable claims to victory: Fury, the giant heavyweight, has been near faultless in the majority of his career, save for some initial troubles in his trilogy with Deontay Wilder and, perhaps more notably, with ex-UFC champ Francis Ngannou last October. Still, though, no heavyweight has yet found a bankable riposte to Fury’s unique length, and his ability to wear down opponents by employing a clinch-heavy approach which often pays dividends in the latter rounds.
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Usyk, by comparison, doesn’t quite have the same physical gifts as Fury — even if at 6ft 3in tall and somewhere around 220-pounds, he isn’t exactly undersized despite pre-fight chides from his opponent.
Usyk, the unbeaten two-division champion, comes into the bout with a reputation for possibly being Fury’s most technical test to date — and it is this approach that might be the route to victory for the Olympic gold medallist, at least according to Conor McGregor.
“Usyk is a crafty, crafty boxer,” McGregor told the BBC of the blockbuster fight. “If anyone can do it, maybe Usyk can do it.”
That said, McGregor emphasised that Fury presents serious challenges of his own.
“Tyson is also a crafty boxer. Plus, he has the size,” McGregor said of the ‘Gypsy King.’ “Tyson is a tough man to beat in the boxing arena.”
These questions, and a host of others we suspect, will be soundly answered come Saturday night in what promises to be among the most historic nights of heavyweight boxing in a generation.
