Oleksandr Usyk will target Tyson Fury’s cut, warns promoter Frank Warren.
Fury and Usyk were supposed to fight for the undisputed heavyweight world championship earlier this year. However, their match had to be postponed due to a cut Fury sustained during sparring.
They are now scheduled to battle for the unified WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF titles on May 18, airing live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Usyk may try to reopen Fury’s cut during their upcoming fight. This is the strategy expected from the Ukrainian boxer.
“Well, I would,” Frank Warren told Sky Sports. “Of course he will [try to do that].”
Despite this, Warren, who is a co-promoter of Fury, remains confident that Usyk will not be able to defeat the WBC champion.
“He had a worse cut against [Otto] Wallin,” the promoter noted.
Tyson had a dreadful cut in that fight and won the fight convincingly with a bad cut, a real bad cut.
Fury has repeatedly shown his ability to deal with a crisis, rising for instance from knockdowns against both Deontay Wilder and Francis Ngannou more recently to preserve his unbeaten record.
“He’s got plan A, plan B and a plan C and more important, he’s got a big heart,” Warren said.
If anyone is going to take advantage of a vulnerability in this fight, he is convinced it will be Fury.
“One thing about Tyson, if he senses a crack or sees any weakness, he’s the biggest exploiter of it and that’s why it’s going to be such an exciting fight,” Warren said.
“On the other hand, Usyk might feel from the Ngannou fight there are some things that he can exploit and I’m sure he will. He’s a competitor.
“He’s a competitor from amateur days right up until the present day. He’s done everything that’s been asked of him.”
But Warren believes Fury will hurt Usyk to the body: “His Achilles’ heel, as I’ve said, and I’m surprised the so-called experts never picked up on it, has always been his body.
