Topic: [ POLL ] The Unification Fight: FURY vs USYK 17th FEBRUARY 2024 - page 6. (Read 1746 times)

There is leaked footage showing Fury getting hit by an elbow in sparring.
https://talksport.com/sport/1735523/leaked-footage-tyson-fury-cut-sparring-elbow-oleksandr-usyk/

The cut is in the same place where Fury was badly cut against Otto Wallin and which has been reopened in other fights. Fury’s susceptibility to getting cut has been one of his weaknesses and is something Usyk can take advantage of.

Usyk still plans to go ahead and defend his titles on February 17. Filip Hrgović, who has been the IBF mandatory since 2022 when he beat Zhilei Zhang, is being considered as a replacement opponent. Hrgović is a good fighter who would be a tough opponent, but two weeks doesn’t seem like enough time to prepare for someone of Usyk’s caliber.

Well, that did not come as a complete surprise to those that could not explain why they felt something did not sound right about the fight. I have to say it seems very strange for Fury to have got that cut as a result of sparring. Surely he would have kept his head protective gear on while he was sparring in the ring. The cut is a bad one but the circumstances surrounding it are simply bizarre.

There seems to be a bruise surrounding the cut therefore maybe it was an unfortunate clash of heads of heads that did it, we do not know.

I thought the video was great. They've gone for a western theme for the fight with Ring of Fire so it's in line with that. Usyk being in traditional dress wouldn't have made much sense but maybe he'll do that for the press conference or face-offs etc.




  . I mean are we believing this was a freak accident or just a very convenient one? The cut does look nasty but given the circumstances regarding the promotion of this fight I wouldn't at all be surprised if this was purposely done. How the hell did he even do it? Sparring? If so, what is he doing having heavy sparring two weeks before a fight. Very suspicious to me. Logan Paul fought on with a cut that he got the day before the fight, though admittedly it wasn't as bad and not above the eye.

Chris Mannix
@SIChrisMannix
Tyson Fury has suffered a cut in training and is out of the undisputed heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk, Usyk's manager, Egis Klimas, told
@SInow
https://x.com/sichrismannix/status/1753468422128898051

The link shared by hilariousandco is gone but I saw this one ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RWW1pI8kDo.. This must be the trailer people are talking, just released 17 hours ago. I still find Fury vs Ngannou more unique. 



I'll take Fury all day. 1.66 is already a go for me, he is still the top heavyweight in his era IMO.

How cool was Fury vs Ngannou promo video, and imho how lame is Usyk vs Fury promo video. Fury seems to look like he did not even wanted to shoot or it is all AI. Usyk, he was a cowboy, gladiator, samurai while in most of his conferences he dresses in Ukrainian national clothes (Vyshyvanka) or/and gets Cossacks look.

I would prefer him to look more like this:



Politics aside, but this looks suits him better, than this outlaw look. I understand that that Cossack wont fit in the video at all, but they could have changed its script or make more funny like Fury vs Ngannou. Usyk loves to have fun, he would sign for that easily.

And to think that the fight is what? barely two weeks, so definitely it's going to happen with the released of this promo, probably one of the best that we have seen in recent years. So it bring the hype once more for this fight, and if it doesn't excite us, then nothing will, IMHO.

For those looking for the current odds,

Fury @1.66, and Usyk @2.14.

At least you are finally convinced that the unification bout is going ahead as planned. I was always fairly certain it would not be postponed but as we approach closer to fight night I am beginning to have suspicions that something does not seem right. Well, when boxers start turning in to movie stars and animated gigantic alter-egos, it is one way to attract attention. I guess there is no further need to try to hype the fight after that strange attempt at promotion

So they finally posted the fight trailer and it's even more epic than the Fury/Ngannou and AJ/Wallin ones: https://youtu.be/uw-c-J90_ZE?si=Bx5Hu30z2poHon8o

At least they're starting the promo now. If it had've got to Feb with nothing I would have assumed it wasn't going to happen.

If the fight goes ahead, there would be a sense of irony if Fury facing Ngannou becomes the ultimate reason why Fury becomes undisputed heavyweight champions that unifies all the belts and defeats Usyk. Maybe he was far too confident when getting in the ring with Ngannou without proper training and thought he would pocket several millions of USD$ before facing Usyk. Now he knows he has to be in excellent shape before he get gets in to the ring with Usyk.

He does contradict himself from time to time 

I think the fight is going ahead. They are both probably occupied in their thoughts about the post-fight world. Fury and Usyk know if they win there will be a rematch clause which will be triggered and if it is not (because the loser retires), the winner knows he can beat Joshua, Parker or Ngannou to retain the titles and retire.

One more bizarre entry in the will it won't it happen saga of this fight: The full face-to-face-off interview between Fury and Usyk leaked but is getting removed by TNT sports. Not sure why they haven't just uploaded it to their channel already unless they think this fight might not be happening. https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/25524373/tyson-fury-usyk-tnt-sports-face-off-leaked-earrings/

I watched it and it was Tyson just being Tyson. Trying to mock Usyk and Usyk just being classy and turning it back on him. One thing that was interesting is we got another another lie/contradiction from Fury in that he admitted to not training for as long as he said he did for Ngannou. Tyson contradicts himself so much you never know what to believe is the lie or not. Something really fishy about all this.

It looks like Fury and Usyk have done a face-to-face off round-table interview at least with a leaked clip surfacing: https://talksport.com/sport/1723884/proof-oleksandr-usyk-fierce-response-tyson-fury-mock-earring/


Fury is never really 'in shape', but lots of people seemed to be of the opinion that he was just taking an easy fight, but I was quite vocal that Ngannou could quite easily KO him. I thought Francis would try get an early KO though and come out swinging but Francis was very reserved and tried to box instead which has its pros and cons. I don't know whether Fury will regret the Francis fight as he did get the win and got paid handsomely for it but maybe it was the wake up call Tyson needed as that fight definitely should have put his ego down a peg or two.


Well, money talks. Like I said, Fury did get the win ultimately (though maybe not in the eyes of many fans) but both can learn from their mistakes and it might make the second fight much more interesting. I guess it depends on how both fighters do in their upcoming fights. If both Ngannou and Tyson win then why not get that fight on again. However, if Ngannou has improved from the first fight and batters AJ Fury might wanna pass haha. With that being said, Ngannou could lose badly and maybe people will lose interest in seeing him again, but the rematch is always there I reckon. Even if Fury loses to Usyk he can still fight Ngannou so there's still lots of options.

How many people gave Ngannou much hope before the fight took place? Fury did not seem as though he was in the best shape and he obviously thought it was going to be an easy night. The amount of money he made from the Ngannou fight should never have been the reason why he might not be in the best mental or physical shape to face Usyk. Fury might regret fighting Ngannou if he loses his titles to Usyk.

Of all the possible fights you mentioned, I think Fury vs Ngannou is the one that will not happen. I just cannot see them getting in the ring to face each other again. I think Wilder should retire after the manner in which Parker outclassed and outboxed him therefore Fury, Usyk, Joshua and Parker remain. Ruiz should also have been in the mix but he did have surgery on his shoulder and was inactive since 2022 therefore he will need to work a lot to get a chance at a title.

If Fury vs Usyk and Joshua vs Ngannou go ahead as planned, where do you think Parker fits in with his next fight?

It is the biggest boxing event this year because what is at stake are all the titles in the heavyweight division and be pride to called the lineal champion the last lineal champion who held the last belt was Lennox and that was 20 years ago, whoever wins the both here will take everything and that includes the greatest in this era.
Whoever wins the fight can retire happily as there's no need to prove he had a large amount of money and he has established any boxer's goal to become the greatest, so February 17th is the much-awaited day for boxing fans.

This Fury vs Usyk fight should be even bigger than Fury vs Ngannou but yap there is not much promotion even just flash talks on news channels with sports news.

Could it be that the war in the Red Sea is making the fight close to being postponed/canceled?  Are they afraid Houtis are going to shoot the planes too?
If there is less promotion for this fight, there's got to be some reason for it or this fight is just promoted in Saudi and exclusively for the richest men in Saudi.

I don't think it will be too bad for them if they just push it back a month or so. I think it will be very bad for them if this fight goes ahead without much promo or fanfare though. Normally the fighters go on big press tours for these fights to try sell it to the mainstream/casual fans who will only tune in for special fights but without any promo it will just be the hardcore that bother. Maybe the Saudi's don't even care about viewing figures but the networks that will be broadcasting it certainly will so surely they should be pushing for promos.



Greed. Fury got paid a shitload and thought it was gonna be an easy fight and a walk in the park for him.


These four involved will likely face each other at some point. Francis wants another go at Fury and AJ has been wanting the Fury fight for years, and then of course we might even get Usyk V AJ for the trilogy which might be a good option for them. There's plenty of combos that can happen and the Fury/Usyk rematch that is contracted will probably happen too though possibly not if one of them gets battered and might not want to go again. If either fighters gets embarrassed they might just call it a day.

Though everything related to the fight is muted I think it will be a public relations disaster for the Saudi government promotions machine if the fight is called-off. What was Fury and his team thinking when he decided to fight Ngannou just a four months before a heavyweight unification fight? I have no doubt Usyk would have been empowered by what he saw when Ngannou took the fight to Fury but Usyk dropped a few levels in standard when he beat Dubois in th 9th round back in August.

If Fury vs Usyk goes ahead on 17th February and then Joshua vs Ngannou take place on 8th March, these fights will define the rest of the year when it comes to heavyweight boxing. Parker is not going anywhere especially after he dismantled Wilder, he deserves a title fight. If Ngannou beats Joshua (as I am sure he will), this is going to be a year of a couple more title fights.

Where has this been announced though cos I haven't seen anything from the official channels or the promoters etc? Nothing on either fighters socials nor Turki's where it's usually the first to be posted. Frank Warren has been saying we'll all be blown away by the undercard and that's certainly not a very good one. Jai Opetaia was reportedly sent home from sparring with Fury after only 5 rounds and there's rumours he knocked down Fury so if he's fighting then what are they doing sparring together at such a late stage?

https://boxing-social.com/news/jai-opetaia-leaves-tyson-fury-camp/
https://www.boxingnews24.com/2024/01/rumor-mill-churns-opetaias-team-denies-fury-knockdown-rumors/


I think there should be a new poll: Will this fight go ahead on the 17th. It's only three weeks away now and we've still got nothing. I think Fury is probably desperately trying to get fit/in shape behind the scenes but might know he isn't ready for what is gonna be one of the toughest if not the toughest fight of his career. Maybe the Francis performance has knocked his confidence. To be honest, I think they might be better off doing this fight after the AJ/Ngannou one and then they can announce the winner of that fight will get a shot at either Fury or Usyk again.

I cannot speak for others but in my opinion it is clear Fury will damage his legacy beyond imagination if he pulls out of the fight. Why would he play mind games for the sake of getting to this stage only to withdraw from the fight?

I completely agree with you, something does not seem right about the way the lack of promotion is playing out but even more than that the lack of comments from both boxers has been noted too and I do not think it is down to them concentrating on their training.

Many are still enraged with how the undercard are put up for this fight. I think everyone here as well can't believed that a wash up fighter is there for the biggest fight in this division. To the point that they are saying that this is the worst undercard ever, ouch.