Usyk on Fury Rematch: “It’s Continuation of First Fight”

Oleksandr Usyk says he views his December 21st rematch as a “continuation” of their first fight, and he will start where he left off last May. That’s not good news for Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) because he had mentally and physically caved in from the seventh round on, taking a contestant bombardment from the unified heavyweight champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs).

Fury, 36, suffered his first career defeat, losing by a 12-round split decision to Usyk on May 18th in Riyadh. During yesterday’s kickoff press conference for their December 21st rematch, Fury blamed his defeat on not being focused and clowning around in the first half of the fight.

Still in denial about his loss, unwilling to confront the truth head-on, Fury points out that he only lost by one round. Fury fails to mention the incident in round nine, where the referee gave him a standing eight count, which prevented Usyk from knocking him out. That tainted the outcome in the eyes of many fans, who believe that Fury was given special treatment to keep from getting stopped.

“Because I like this, it’s my life. Listen, what I’ve won, an Olympic gold medal, two times undisputed, it’s not my finished career. Maybe it’s only the start of my boxing career,” said Oleksandr Usyk to Boxing King Media about why he’s still fighting.

Usyk is reportedly expected to earn $100 million for his rematch with Fury. Assuming Usyk wins, he’ll be able to get another gigantic payday by facing the eventual winner of next year’s mega-fight between Fury and Anthony Joshua. Those two are expected to fight twice, if not three times, but whoever emerges from those fights will be matched against Usyk. In the first fight with Fury earlier this year on May 18th, Usyk earned $75 million. If Usyk continues winning for the next three years, he could retire with a net worth of well over $300 million.

“My mission is to win. Him not break my jaw. It’s not true,” said Usyk, denying that Fury had broken his jaw in their previous fight. I don’t think about what Tyson talks. It’s just speaking,” said Usyk when told that Fury predicted a knockout win for him.

“It’s not a new fight. It’s a continuation of my first fight. It’s not going to be a first-round. It’s going to be 13, 14, maybe 15, 16, or maybe 17,” said Usyk about how he views his rematch with Fury on December 21st.

Usyk knows how to beat Fury now, and he will likely jump on him early in the rematch, hammering him with combinations to go for a knockout. He knows he can hurt Fury and will focus on throwing flurries like he did in the ninth round.