Tyson Fury returns to the ring this weekend to face Oleksandr Usyk in what has become one of the most anticipated rematches in modern boxing following the Ukrainian’s victory in May.
The stakes are colossal, the questions endless. But perhaps the most pressing query of all is whether Fury—brash, brilliant, and bruised from their first encounter—can make the adjustments necessary to dethrone the cool-headed maestro from Ukraine.
Johnny Nelson, a man who knows the highs and lows of boxing all too well, offered a measured but stark assessment of Fury’s chances after he was narrowly outmaneuvered by Usyk’s chess-like brilliance.
Nelson put it bluntly: Usyk has Fury’s number. The Ukrainian’s ability to read opponents, adapt, and dismantle them is unmatched, and it’s a skill that goes beyond brute strength or athletic prowess.
Plus Fury, a fighter who thrives on chaos and psychology, now finds himself in an unfamiliar role: the hunted rather than the hunter. But, can the man who once danced rings around Wladimir Klitschko and outgunned Deontay Wilder, get his revenge?Nelson wasn’t entirely optimistic about Fury’s chances.
‘Unfortunately for Tyson, Usyk is clever enough that once he’s boxed you once he’s got your number. When thinking about Tyson, I think about what my old trainer Brendan said. He would have said Tyson was Three Smart.
Johnny Nelson has shared his opinion on how the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will play out on Saturday evening
Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight world champion of the four-belt era by stripping Fury of his WBC title during their first bout in May
‘He outsmarted himself. He thought he’d get in there and out box Usyk. He thought he would beat this best boxer in the world at his own game. He realised that wasn’t working and changed things up and took Usyk to the brink. But, it wasn’t enough.
‘Usyk got the measure of him, got the strength of him, got the movement of him, got the fitness levels of him, got it all. He has downloaded the blueprint for Tyson fury now.’
Nelson drew parallels to Anthony Joshua‘s second fight against Usyk, where AJ attempted to use his physicality to overcome the Ukrainian. Fury is likely to adopt a similar approach, coming into the rematch heavier and intent on bullying Usyk in the clinch and with roughhouse tactics. However, Nelson warned that this strategy might already be too late.
‘That’s exactly what he did with Anthony Joshua. In the first fight Usyk got the measure and he got the win. Then Usyk understood what was coming in the rematch and beat him again.
‘Also, Tyson will probably try and do the same thing what AJ did in second fight, what he should have done in the first fight, which was use his physicality, put it on him, surprise him, but it’s too late now because he knows what to expect.
‘Lastly, Tyson’s fighting on emotion. He’s fighting on anger, like Tyson wants all his opponents to do, and he’s gonna try and put it on Usyk. That’s why he’s coming in heavier. That’s why he’s coming in bigger. He wants to go in there thinking, I’m not letting this jumped up middleweight knock me out. I’ve put on weight and I am the bigger man. Now this is his mindset.
‘But, that doesn’t mean Usyk won’t be able to out box him. Out fox him. Out move him. Out everything him. It’s the shots you don’t see coming that cause trouble, that cause the problems.
‘So, with Tyson coming in heavier, it tells me so much. Tells me Tyson is going to try and use his physicality, which he should have done in the first fight. It tells me that he thinks he’ll be able to absorb the shots a lot more like he didn’t in the first fight. So it tells me the intention, but he also tells Usyk the intention as well.’
The pair will go toe-to-toe for a second time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 21
Nelson put it bluntly: Usyk has Fury’s number. The Ukrainian’s ability to read opponents, adapt, and dismantle them is unmatched, and it’s a skill that goes beyond brute strength
Much has been made of Usyk’s unconventional training methods, from juggling to singing while training. Nelson sees these as essential tools in building Usyk’s extraordinary adaptability.
‘When it comes to boxing, everything is very similar. You go in the gym, you hit the bag, you hit the pads, you spar. You go in the gym, you hit the bag, you hit the pads, you spar. But Usyk prepares himself for every possible scenario’, Nelson said.
He compared Usyk’s approach to his own days training under Brendan Ingle, where unorthodox methods prepared fighters for the unexpected.
‘When Brendan used to make us go to the prisons it was the best outlet. The best form of training. You had prisoners that had nothing to do other than train for you. They would spend six months training for you and spending a pound a week from their earnings to train for you so they were obsessed with knocking your lights out.
‘It was their Rocky moment. They were thinking, I’m gonna get it. I’m gonna get Johnny now. I’m gonna get Herol Graham. And, to make matters worse, Brendan always said the worst people to fight are the people that don’t know how to fight because you don’t know if they are gonna use a jab, a right hand, two hands, a left hook, a right hook, throw from the wrong stance. So, if you can fight people like that, you can fight anybody.
‘That crux of the matter was we were never allowed to hit him back. That was the rule. You cannot hit him back. You’ve got to move out the way. You’ve got to trap him. You have to slip him. It was all about discipline. That prepared you for everything.
‘So, when we got in there with the conventional fight, there was nothing that was would surprise us. When a fighter switches from Southpaw to Orthodox it meant nothing to us. Usyk has been doing the same.
‘He’s preparing himself for every possible scenario that Tyson is going to bring to him. So it’s not going to be a shock, it’s going to be a shock to everybody else, and that it’s an art that that is actually ignored. It’s an art that’s actually people just don’t do because they think to themselves, well, I don’t need to.’
Usyk’s technical mastery and adaptability, honed through years of study and training, set him apart
When it comes to boxing IQ, Nelson offered a nuanced take. While he acknowledged Fury’s deep knowledge of the sport’s history, he gave the edge to Usyk in terms of applying that knowledge in the ring.
‘Tyson Fury is an unbelievable boxing historian,’ Nelson said. ‘But when it comes to the art of our sport at this stage in their careers, I say Usyk.’
Usyk’s technical mastery and adaptability, honed through years of study and training, set him apart. Nelson noted that both Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko have been inspired by unorthodox styles, even mimicking techniques from fighters trained in Sheffield—a testament to their open-minded approach to learning.
For Nelson, one of the most intriguing dynamics of the rematch is how Tyson Fury is coping with the aftermath of his first professional defeat. Nelson pointed to Fury’s uncharacteristically subdued demeanour in the lead-up to the rematch as evidence of this shift.
Referring to his own experience, Nelson said: ‘I think my career was upside down. I started to lose and end up being a winner, whereas Tyson Fury as a professional fighter, he’s always been on the winning side, and the fans have grown to love him as their winner and hate him when he lost.
‘You can get to a stage when you’re a champion that you start to believe in your own hype. That was one thing we were always taught, never believe in the good or the bad they say about you in the newspaper because they don’t know you personally.
‘So I think it’s got to the stage where Tyson presents the image that he believes in his own hype. And when you do that, you think it is a it’s a God given gift that you’re going to do it no matter what. Naasem Hamed, one of the country’s greatest fighters, got to a point where he believed in his own hype.
‘He actually believed he was a Prince. He actually believed he didn’t have to work as hard as the next man to get the win. That’s what we saw with Tyson fury against the likes of Francis Ngannou. He thought I’ve got this, it’s a piece of cake. Then he was lucky to get the nod.
He compared Usyk’s approach to his own days training under Brendan Ingle, where unorthodox methods prepared fighters for the unexpected
‘That was a sign and then having to get in there with Usyk and getting humbled will have been hard too. I saw how it humbled him because Tyson Fury is usually really loud, brash and in your face. He’s the one that steals the show. But, he’s not at the moment.
‘I remember watching against Klitchko. He came dressed as Batman to the press conference. He was loud, the whole team were loud. He’s not doing that now. He’s like a quiet mouse. He is like a quiet mouse because he understands this guy has my number. So therefore, no matter what I say, no matter what I do, it is going to make no difference.
Even the small moments, like Fury signing a photo of himself being punched by Usyk during a press conference, spoke volumes.
I could tell he was humbled when I say him at the press conference in London. Usyk walked out dressed like the Men in Black with the glasses on. He stole the gimmick and then pulled the picture out.
‘It was a picture of him punching Fury and he got Fury to sign it. Tyson actually did it. We all thought, he’s not gonna sign that and he did. He tried to smile it off and laugh it off but you could see, wow, it took a lot. Because if you’re a fighter and you believe you’re the best fight in the world, and I’m telling you from experience, I believed that was the best fight in the world. So therefore, if I lost to someone, I knew there was somebody that was out there that could beat me. Tyson Fury now knows he’s not the best.
‘He knows he’s not the best fight in the world. And that can affect your your ego, your confidence, your self belief. If you become accustomed to that, that day comes eventually. And for Tyson, it’s having to do with that mental side of it, as well as actually losing and understanding. It’s a massive difference. Doesn’t matter what anybody says to you, it makes a massive difference to psyche.’
Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury world heavyweight title rematch on Saturday December 21 available live on Sky Sports Box Office from 4pm GMT. Available from £24.95 / €27.95.
