Age brings a double-edged sword which will decide Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk rematch
Share:
Declining physical ability and changed tactical approaches – which fighter deals with them best will emerge victorious. All the talking finally stopped, and nobody will ever forget round nine of the first fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Riyadh back in May.
![[Usyk (left) won a narrow points victory over Fury in Riyadh in May]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/15/11/GettyImages-2153593829.jpg)
Fury was hit from corner to corner, reeling, out on his feet, wide-eyed but defiant, and Usyk chased him like an animal pursuing wounded prey. It was a minute of total boxing madness; Fury survived the round and was still standing at the end of the 12 rounds. Usyk got the verdict, Usyk became the first undisputed world heavyweight champion for 25 years and on Saturday, back in Riyadh, Usyk will enter the ring as the king. And being king is never easy in the boxing business.
![[Usyk dominated round nine in the previous bout, which proved decisive]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/15/11/GettyImages-2153594708.jpg)
Usyk and Fury have both promised a new and improved version for their rematch; they have each talked about adjustments once the first bell sounds at the Kingdom Arena in the latest of the Riyadh Season of fights. Fury has talked about being more serious and Usyk has talked about doing more of the same, just doing it better. They probably both worked out a way to win during the first fight, which was a slender split decision in the end. Usyk won the fight in the ninth when he hurt and nearly dropped Fury; the referee gave Fury a count because the ropes had kept him upright, and that extra point was the slender difference between winning and losing.
There were signs in the first fight that the end is not far away for either of the two men; Fury is now 36, has fought 36 times and has been a professional boxer for 17 years. He has also had bad years, days when he looked at death, hid in the darkest of places and gained 10 stone in flab. Usyk is 37 and has never had an easy fight since turning professional in 2013; Usyk has been matched hard from the start and in 22 fights he has managed to become the undisputed champion at both cruiserweight and heavyweight. In private, they talk of exhaustion and bodies that are simply getting closer to shutting down. At the end of the first fight, they were both near collapse.
