Former opponent and now head trainer of Deontay Wilder, Malik Scott, has alluded to why he believes Tyson Fury came up short against Oleksandr Usyk last weekend and failed in his bid to become the first undisputed four-belt champion of the four-belt era.
In a gruelling war, Fury seemed to be in cruise control in the middle rounds against the Ukrainian, until the former cruiserweight conqueror made the adjustments and put his foot on the pedal to outwork and nearly stop ‘The Gypsy King’ in the final four rounds of the bout – doing enough to get the split-decision nod on the judges’ scorecards.
As a result, Usyk etched his name into the history books, simultaneously becoming just the second fighter in history to reign as the undisputed title-holder at both cruiserweight and heavyweight – and also thrusting his name into the conversation as the pound-for-pound greatest fighter on the planet.
In an interview with Boxing Social, Mailk Scott offered his thoughts on the night as a whole and outlined the impact that Fury’s famous trilogy with Deontay Wilder may have had on the Brit.
“Before the fight, it was a great event. The fights before it, the entertainment that Turki has put on, the matchmaking is good, boxing is at a high right now because of what these guys are doing and because of the finances that they are putting into boxing.
“They’re not just paying fighters, not just that – it is the promotion, the commercials, the ringwalks, the entertainment, so before the actual fight – I was impressed by that.
Then the fight was very good. I was happy that Usyk won it, before the fight I thought that Usyk would stop Fury on cuts, but there was a lot of time where I wasn’t sure who was going to win it.
“Usyk got it done and he got it done under pressure, he got through rough times and got it done in a very, very good way. Respect to him, respect to his country, it was a great win and if you know him then you have to be happy for him.
“I think that Fury has actually said it himself [that the Wilder fight took a lot out of him]. The only person that got out unscathed against Deontay Wilder was Joseph Parker, everyone else came out with wounds and concussions and knockdowns – things of that nature.”
Fury and Usyk are set to meet in their rematch on December 21, although it is unlikely to be for the undisputed title this time around.
Instead, the IBF is expected to strip Usyk and place their world title on the line when Anthony Joshua headlines at Wembley Stadium in September against the winner of Filip Hrgovic versus Daniel Dubois.
