Tyson Fury vows to focus and cut back the showboating for Usyk rematch
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“When I look in the mirror I don’t see a quitter,” Tyson Fury says as, having suffered the first defeat of his professional career in a dramatic world heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in May, he is about to step back into the fire of their rematch this Saturday night in Riyadh. “I see a man who would do anything to keep going. If I get knocked down nine times, I’ll get up 10. If I didn’t want to do that, I wouldn’t be a boxer, I’d be doing something else, like playing darts. But this is my job.”.
![[Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury during a press conference in October.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/319dbd86006e26d610750943ecc07bd1ba0a929c/0_120_3600_2160/master/3600.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Fury and Usyk dug into the reserves of their resilience and the Ukrainian won a split decision. Usyk was losing the bout narrowly when, in a remarkable ninth round, he hurt Fury and looked close to stopping his much bigger opponent. But Fury is a fighter to the core and being rocked repeatedly would never deter him from stepping back into the ring.
Of course there is one key motivation, for these prize-fighters, in facing each other twice in seven months. “Before even the first fight, we had a rematch clause for a hell of a lot of money,” Fury says bluntly. “I’d have to have no legs, no arms and half my head chopped off not to take the rematch. No eyeballs as well. I’d do it if I was blind.”.
Such gory jesting is typical of Fury but, in a couple of recent conversations with the deposed champion, he is more intent on stressing a matter-of-fact acceptance of his loss and a seriousness of purpose sometimes missing from their first bout. Seemingly in control of the fight, Fury often chose to fool around.
