Jeff Mayweather says he felt Tyson Fury did enough to win a close decision against Oleksandr Usyk last Saturday night in their rematch in Riyadh. Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) is believed to have done more than unified heavyweight champion Usyk (23-0, 12 KOs) in the fight to get a 12-round decision.
Jeff didn't think it was an exciting fight, he described it as “middle.” Usyk won via 12-round unanimous decision with scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 116-112. Fury gave up his chances of winning by doing nothing in the championship rounds when the fight was still up for grabs.
Weight and performance
The weight Fury put on slowed him down, making it difficult for him to fight as hard as he needed to to win. He entered the first bout looking flabby at 262 pounds but made the situation by moving up to 281 pounds for the rematch.
Fury was so chunky that he had to pull his pants up to reduce his stomach and leave a smaller target area for Usyk's punches.
“The fight was very close. It could go either way, but I would lean a little bit towards Tyson,” Jeff Mayweather said. YouTube channel, believing that Tyson Fury did enough to deserve a win over unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk last Saturday night.
“Every other round, (Usyk) did a good job, but not as much as Tyson did. Usyk is taking over for the heavyweights. They've all been beaten by Usyk. They've all been beaten by Usyk,” Jeff said when asked if Fury and Anthony Joshua had a chance. To become world champions again: “Maybe not.”
“I don't think anyone wants to see a third fight (between Fury and Usyk). The first fight for me was pretty good. The second fight was average. Neither of them did much. Basically, I think both guys were fighting safe, and maybe that's why Beyond Tyson not fighting, he's been fighting very safe.
If Turki Alashik wants to set up a trilogy between Fury and Usyk, he can do so. Fans won't want to see it. With Fury coming off two defeats, the timing is not right for Turkey to take on Anthony Joshua. Fury needs a win or two over a tough competitor to redeem himself and raise his stock.
Turk needs to tell Fury that if he wants to get his pension against Joshua, he has to get it by fighting Daniel Dubois and Martin Pacioli. Let him walk through the fire first to get that huge payday.
Approach anger cautiously
“He didn't take enough risks. I don't think so. Everybody gets beat up by one of the cruiserweight boxers,” said Mayweather when asked if Joshua, Fury and Daniel Dubois could take on Lennox Lewis, George Foreman and Mike Tyson.
Fury seemed afraid of getting hurt in his rematch with Usyk last Saturday, and he wasn't going to take any chances. He didn't want to be fired. So, he played it safe, implemented procedures, and collected his $75 million salary without jeopardizing his stash.
It wouldn't end well for Fury, Joshua or Dubois to face Lewis, Foreman or Mike Tyson. If there was a way to take them back to when these guys were young, it would be interesting to see, but none of them would be able to do well against this type of fighter. Fury will be the most vulnerable of the three because he cannot strike, and neither his movement nor his striking will work.
“I don’t think so,” Mayweather said on whether Fury could ever be considered a great. “Some people might think so. I really like Tyson Fury, and I think he's very talented for a guy his size. But if you get beaten twice by a cruiserweight, you can't say much about that. I think he (Fury) is a Hall of Famer.”
Fury is certainly not a Hall of Famer, and certainly not all-time great. He's unbeaten by none other than 40-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, who's been a longshot, and Deontay Wilder. We've seen how good he is with his recent losses to Joseph Parker and Zilie Zhang. Those defeats took away the luster of Fury's victories over Deontay when he was struggling against him.
