Usyk vs Fury 2: Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury look to settle their rivalry in a heavyweight championship rematch | Boxing news

The length of the beard, or the kissing of the cross, or who won the stare-down, seem like such simple issues that arguments about them seem to be nothing more than trivial.

But Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are the two greatest heavyweight boxers in the world today. When it comes to their rivalry, they want to win every outcome.

Fury had never lost as a professional boxer, until he met Usyk in Riyadh earlier this year. That thunderous fight in May decided the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years and the first in the four-belt era.

It was Usyk who won by split but convincing decision and earned his place in the history books.

Fury now wants to regain the WBO, WBC and WBA world titles on their home turf Sky Sports Box Office Rematch on Saturday night. He wants to show that no man can ultimately beat him, and he wants to expand his own legacy – to establish himself as the undisputed master of comebacks.

So what is the importance of a beard?

The debate, ostensibly, was over whether Fury's full beard could dampen the force of the blow or interfere with the path of the punch. That's conceivable, but when you consider that Usyk is now a heavyweight and hurt Fury so badly in the first fight that only the ropes, in their famous ninth round, kept him from hitting the canvas, it's unlikely to be an issue for him. Great Ukrainian.

The argument is about something more. It's about Team Usyk wanting to strip an item from Fury. The Briton has been thrown into what he described as a “brutal situation” this training camp. His entourage was reduced, and Fury isolated himself in Malta for his preparations, barely speaking to his wife and family.

During this week in Riyadh, Fury, wearing a leather jacket and a beard, was combative and almost unapproachable to those outside his circle. He's coming for the “war” he threatened during Libra.

He wants to beat Usyk and knock him out of the heavyweight division so he can return to cruiserweight. “He'll need to,” Fury said. Sky Sports. “I'm going to hit him so hard.”

More dangerous than before, this version of Tyson Fury should be an improved fighter.

“You'll see better this time I think. I think I'll definitely be better than last time and I don't have to be that much better because it was such a big step up,” he said.

The first battle was finely balanced. Back in May, Fury appeared to be enjoying heavyweight competition at the highest level. He was excited about his entrance, showed up to the ring and insisted that he thrives in the atmosphere.

“I enjoyed the whole fight. The occasion. Being in the ring. Great entrance, great entertainment. Overall, I thought it was a great performance from myself. Even when I watched it back, I thought it was a great performance. I delivered some things.” “I gave a good performance and I know I didn't get a W. But I still think it was an excellent performance myself from 1 to 10, as I thought I did a 10,” Fury insisted.

The boat show could have been a mistake. He was doing it to show how good a boxer he was, to try to balance and confuse Usyk, and maybe even to buy himself space and breathing room.

It was a front, a trick, that Usyk did not fall for. He stuck to his job. He took his licks, which were also painful during the first half of the fight, and as he promised he would, he didn't leave Fury alone.

But getting rid of that, with more application and defensive tightening, can make a big difference. Although the Brit believes this is his best match in years, he needs to make some vital adjustments for the rematch.

“Sometimes you look at a fight and I think I didn't do well, and I can do better next time if I do this and that and that,” Fury said.

“But for this way of boxing, I don't think I did anything wrong. I think I gave an excellent performance and I know I've seen reports saying Tyson's gone backwards, he's down and this and that but I didn't do that.” Don't show it in that fight if you are.

“I thought it was probably the best performance I'd given in the last five years. Since Wilder II for sure, and that was almost five years ago.”

It can be frustrating to think that he is a better boxer than ever, yet he still suffers his first defeat. This shows how good Usyk is. But Fury seemed strangely energized by the challenge of facing him again.

If Usyk's team wanted to strip the beard, the persona that Fury had adopted from their opponent, the British team sought to remove the inspiration from their rival.

During the first fight, under intense pressure and the competition was intense and difficult, Usyk sat in his corner between rounds and looked up at the sky and kissed the cross.

“This cross was a gift from the head monk of one of the Greek monasteries I go to,” Usyk told the media this week. “This cross gives me strength and leads me to victory.”

Whether he was led by the cross, or his own spirit, he excelled and forged a path to victory.

Of course, all it takes is the wrong camera angle and an unknown object pressed to a fighter's lips to spark speculation. Thus, Fury's team said, any cross coming into Usyk's corner would have to be taken away to be tested to nullify any doubts.

This may be a reasonable point. But this dispute is still about a small element, something Usyk wants and something Fury doesn't want him to have.

This is just an early skirmish before the championship contest, and the battle will not be decided over it.

Usyk, of course, has other sources of inspiration. He is religious, carries his country's flag with him, and is proud to represent his people. The memory of his father, who never lived to see him become a world champion, also drives him.

“Of course he is there. It could never be different after everything he did for me. But now he comes to me less often in my dreams, or he doesn't come at all, because I said so he shouldn't,” Usyk said of his father.

“But maybe it would look more like a fight. But I remember him, I think about him a lot, I look at pictures of him. He's always with me. I think he's still with me, he's sitting somewhere, maybe sitting behind this guy.” So you can see me better.”

Usyk always sets himself apart. He's a hard man to read, certainly involved but always on his terms. Fury loves to ensnare opponents in psychological games, but Usyk is the only one who never seems to play.

The Ukrainian seeks to improve himself. He revealed something of his mentality when he told Sky Sports“Life goes in cycles. Either you try to live justly and do the right thing, or you don’t and you end up being a nobody.”

“We're all flawed, we all have problems. We're all evil to some extent. But at least some of us are trying, reaching for something better. For God's sake. While others don't even care.”

“That's how I'll put it. The bee doesn't need to prove to the fly that honey is better than garbage. But the fly will always argue that garbage is better than honey.”

He reveals something about himself, but it also feels like the real Usyk is something well hidden behind mysteries.

While the battle of skill, technique and physicality between them could only happen during the allotted 12 rounds of their fight, the battle of wills extended from their last match until now.

This was exemplified by the unusually prolonged stare between the two men after the recent press conference.

It started out intense, went on for a long time until it started to feel absurd, and then went on longer until it started to feel great again.

She wondered what they saw when they looked at each other. They certainly did not see the nervous crowd of men around them who were wondering how to intervene, how to separate the two without offending either combatant or provoking an escalation that could not be contained.

They didn't see themselves in each other. Both men are diametrically opposed characters, even if their pride and hostility are backed by a rarely expressed respect for their rival.

They couldn't have seen the future or Saturday night's fight. If their minds were elsewhere, it would have been easier for them to finally turn aside and move on.

Instead, they must have only seen that moment. Suddenly, they both decided that they wouldn't be the one to break, look first, or stumble. So they stared and would stare at the image they saw of each other from now until the fight and as long as it lasted, until they saw themselves at the end of it.

The massive heavyweight rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will be broadcast on Saturday 21 December on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Usyk v Fury 2 now!