Why I fear Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II could be boxing's last truly great fight, writes JEFF POWELL
Share:
The landscape of boxing is dominated by the mountainous heavyweights who tower over the hardest game, wielding the massive blows which send seismic shudders through each other and voyeuristic tremors through blood-lusting crowds. As the two mightiest of the present era stand aloft at this start of another massive fight week on Saudi Arabia's desert plains, Tyson Fury at 6ft 9in remains the Everest of the ring despite his solitary career defeat by one of the lowest peaks in prize fighting's utmost division.
![[Fury is seeking revenge after suffering his first-ever career defeat in May at the hands of Usyk]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/93165457-14194665-image-a-2_1734262349815.jpg)
Fury's only conqueror Oleksandr Usyk, a standard bearer for Ukraine's war against Russia, gives his height as 6ft 3in. That looks like as wishful a calculation as Mike Tyson claiming to be a six-footer in his prime, despite standing a mere 5ft 10 ½ in his sockless black boots.
![[Anthony Joshua (bottom) will look to rebuild in 2025 after being badly beaten by Daniel Dubois]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/93165497-14194665-image-a-3_1734262503040.jpg)
The difference in altitude between Fury and Usyk approximates in boxing measure to Everest at 29,031 feet and the highest point of land in Ukraine, Mount Hoveria, at 6,726 feet. Which makes Oleksandr The Cat's over-throwing of the Gypsy King all the more valedictory and, now, this rematch for all but one of the world titles one of greater fascination.
![[At 27, Dubois disrupted the dominance of the 30-somethings big three by winning a world belt]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/93165513-14194665-image-a-4_1734262565671.jpg)
Oleksandr Usyk (left) will face Tyson Fury on Saturday in a world heavyweight title rematch. Fury is seeking revenge after suffering his first-ever career defeat in May at the hands of Usyk. Not only that but of higher intrigue as the sands of world heavyweight domination are beginning to shift beneath the feet of the elders.
![[At the age of 48, Wladimir Klitschko had been contemplating a return to the ring over seven years on from his last fight - and was eyeing to face Dubois in February 2025]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/92586883-14194665-Wladimir_Klitschko_has_been_contemplating_a_return_to_the_ring_o-a-5_1734262765339.jpg)
The third giant in his 30s, Anthony Joshua, had his 6ft 6in of muscle crushed to dust and his IBF title blown away by the 6ft 5in Daniel Dubois. There, in a blink of three knock-downs, went the first of the heavyweight belts into the fists of the twenty-somethings.
![[The fight is no longer being considered though in the wake of Mike Tyson (right) making a comeback at the age of 58 and losing to YouTuber Jake Paul last month]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/92586903-14194665-The_fight_is_no_longer_being_considered_in_the_wake_of_Mike_Tyso-a-6_1734262786055.jpg)
