LONDON — Briton Tyson Fury said he will throw caution to the wind when he faces heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and aim for a knockout victory in their rematch.
In their first bout in May, Fury hit his stride in the fourth round and engaged in some showmanship as he caught Usyk with vicious body shots, but the Ukrainian battled back and turned the tide in the eighth round.
Usyk’s powerful punches to the head left Fury reeling and the previously undefeated boxer struggled through the final rounds of the fight before losing by split decision and relinquishing his WBC heavyweight championship.
The rematch will take place on Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the WBC, WBO and WBA titles on the line.
“I’m going to go in there with destroy mode. Last time I went to box him, I was being cautious. I boxed the head right off him,” Fury told TNT Sports on Saturday.
“Let’s talk facts. Anyone can get caught, as we’ve seen in a lot of these heavyweight fights, but this time I’m not going for a points decision.”
Fury added that he is still keen on facing fellow Briton Anthony Joshua, despite the former champion’s knockout defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois in an IBF title fight last month.
Joshua and Fury had been set to face off in a proposed ‘Battle of Britain’ bout in 2022, but the fight fell through.
“At the end of the day, it would be a travesty if we didn’t fight,” Fury said according to Reuters.
“No matter if he loses 20 more fights. If he doesn’t win another fight and has 10 years away from the game, it doesn’t matter, we have to fight.”
Fury had a front-row seat to watch current heavyweight titleholder Daniel Dubois destroy Anthony Joshua, as Dubois shocked and dropped Joshua four times to score a fifth-round knockout win.
Although Fury is fully focused on exacting revenge against Usyk on Dec. 21 following a loss to the Ukrainian in May – the first of his career – “The Gypsy King” was very much an interested observer for Dubois’ career-defining win against Joshua.
“He did a very good job – fair play to young Dan,” Fury said. “Everyone wrote him off, you know. Coming in, he was the [IBF] champion and everyone treated him like he was a bum. He showed what he is made of. It’s very good for him – fantastic.
“What went wrong [for Joshua] is what always goes wrong in heavyweight boxing – a good right to the chin, and that was it.
“It’s heavyweight boxing, boys. Shit happens. You get knocked spark-out. It could have been me, you or anybody. In the heavyweight division, you are one punch from being smashed and knocked out.”
Much like Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) has gotten off the canvas several times throughout his career, the Brit gave credit to his career-long rival for the courageous performance. Moments before Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) was knocked out with a big right hand, he rocked and rattled Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs).
“You get caught with punches, and you don’t see many heavyweights get hit, get knocked down and get back up and continue,” said Fury.
“It’s up to [Joshua] on whatever he wants to do [next]. If he’s got good ambitions, he’ll come back once again. He’s got to make his own decisions. He’s a big boy.”
Joshua, who will turn 35 in October, shut down retirement talk immediately after the fight. The 36-year-old Fury, who is 14 months older than Joshua, suffered his first loss, to Usyk, at age 35. Fury alluded that age may have played a factor in Joshua’s loss.
“I thought it was a 50-50 fight [going into it],” said Fury. “Dubois is a lot younger at 27. AJ is 35, like me. Age doesn’t wait for anybody, does it? It is what it is.”
Fury and Dubois are both promoted by Frank Warren. Fury plans on beating Usyk to then set up an undisputed title slugfest against his Queensberry roster mate.
“I’m going to fight the fucking rabbit and ugly bastard Usyk and take all of the belts back once again – I guarantee that,” said Fury. “After I beat Usyk, I’ll fight Dubois. That’s my plan.”
