The new official poster for the rescheduled May 18th heavyweight contest between injured Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has generated considerable interest.
Fury’s look of terror is a sign that he’s facing someone he lacks confidence in fighting. The poster perfectly sums up the opinions of the boxing public, who views the 35-year-old Fury as scared of Usyk and lacking confidence heading into this match.
In contrast to the February 17th poster of the two fighters, the new one is a cartoon one, and Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) is positioned behind IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs). Fury has seemingly been demoted.
The message here is Fury is now a secondary figure, even though his name comes first. You can argue that Fury is in the dog house due to his pull-out with an eye injury.
Fury’s Stoic Expression: Fear or Confidence?
Fans view Fury’s look as one of sheer horror, knowing that he’s about to suffer a humiliating defeat against Usyk on May 18th, and he won’t be looked at the same after this loss.
People feel that Fury is no longer committed to the sport, and is just hanging on for the money the Saudis are showering him with.
The fans believe Fury already mentally checked out after his third fight with Deontay Wilder in 2021 and has been fighting lower-level opposition ever since, padding his record with fights against Dillian Whyte, Dereck Chisora, and Francis Ngannou.
Fans Believe Fury Will Pull Out Again
There’s a tremendous amount of doubt among fans about whether Fury will pull out of his rescheduled May 18th fight with Usyk, complaining of another injury, likely with his cut eye.
The Saudis wisely installed a $10 million penalty clause for the fight if either guy pulls out, but it’s difficult to believe that they’ll replace Fury if he gets injured.
The Saudis are fond of Fury, and they got to know that if he’s out of the event, it’ll be next to impossible to replace him with a big enough name to attract attention from the boxing world.
You can’t replace Fury with Anthony Joshua, because he doesn’t have a clue how to defeat Usyk. Using Filip Hrgovic or Joseph Parker as replacements won’t work as well because they’re popular fighters in the U.S. or the UK.