“Iron Mike” hopes that the Briton will win the second fight against the Ukrainian.
Former absolute world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson shared his expectations for the rematch between WBA, WBO, WBC and IBO title holder Oleksandr Usyk and former champion Tyson Fury.
According to the boxing legend, the Ukrainian surprised him in the first fight, but he hopes that the “Gypsy King” will take the second fight more seriously and will be able to win.
“Usyk surprised everyone. Fury was playing around too much in the ring. He needs to take these fights seriously and, hopefully, he will get a different result in the rematch,” Tyson said on the YouTube channel talkSPORT Boxing.
The Usyk-Fury rematch will take place on December 21 in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). All the titles that the Ukrainian boxer holds will be at stake.
Unlike the first fight, this time the title of absolute world champion will not be at stake, since Alexander had previously renounced the IBF title. Now it is in the hands of Daniel Dubois, who has already managed to defend it by knocking out Anthony Joshua.
Recall that on the night of May 19, 2024, Usyk defeated Fury by split decision in a fight for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion. At the end of the ninth round, Alexander knocked his opponent down.
Thus, Alexander defended the WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF belts, and also took the WBC title from the “Gypsy King”. Usyk became the first absolute world champion in the heavyweight division in the 21st century.
Before that, the last “absolute” heavyweight champion was Lennox Lewis, who won this status in 1999, when he defeated Evander Holyfield. At that time, the WBA, WBC and IBF titles were at stake. The WBO belt was recognized as equal in 2007, so Usyk became the first “absolute” heavyweight champion in history with four main titles.