Oleksandr Usyk defends his unified world heavyweight titles against Tyson Fury this month after winning their first fight between split decision.
The momentum swung back in forth in that all action affair back in May, but it was Ukraine’s Usyk who did the most damage to become undisputed. Fury immediately activated his rematch clause and is now just weeks away from his shot at revenge.
Speaking to casino.org, former world champion and Hall of Famer Carl Froch made his prediction, siding with the champion to keep his belts and saying it will be ‘incredibly tough’ for the Brit to stop that.
“It’s going to be interesting. Usyk is 37, he’s older than Fury, but he lives the life. It’s not the age of the fighter, but the miles on clock. Fury has more miles on the clock, having had three tough fights against Deontay Wilder, then he was on the floor against Francis Ngannou.
“It’s not a fight we necessarily need to see, we saw all that we needed in the first fight, but rematches are very popular at the minute across the board.
“I’d predict a Usyk win, probably on points. I couldn’t rule out the late stoppage, because if Fury does go for it as he suggests he will, he could gas out towards the end of the fight.
“It would be great for British Boxing if Fury could win it, as then we might even see a third fight.
“It’s just an incredibly tough ask for him.”
Fury will likely push for a stoppage this time around to take the result out of the hands of the judges. It’s a strategy that has worked well for him in the past, drawing with Deontay Wilder when they first fought before stopping in the second and third bouts.
The rematch takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 21.
