Boxing analyst Tim Bradley says the changes made by Oleksandr Usyk in the eighth round played a big role in his victory over WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
First cycles: Reign of Fury
Bradley felt that Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) was in control of the fight early, sweeping nearly the fourth through sixth, but unified champion Usyk hit him with a shot in the eighth round that he suspected may have broken the Gypsy King’s nose. .
Fury looked uncomfortable when he was hit in the nose, and Usyk saw that he continued to attack in the ninth round. He wounded Fury with a left blow to the head that knocked him off his feet, and followed up with a flurry of shots that made him look dejected.
Fury has been heavily injured since his first fight against Deontay Wilder where he was knocked out cold.
From there, it was Usyk who got the better of Fury in the final four rounds to earn a 12-round decision victory to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in their fight in Riyadh.
“I thought Fury would be able to pull it off. He was boxing the way he was supposed to,” said boxing expert Tim Bradley to the media last Saturday night, reacting to Oleksandr Usyk’s victory over Tyson Fury in Riyadh.
“He was staying on the outside, using his jab well, and coming down to the body with a bolo [punch],” Bradley continued about Fury. “In the second round, I thought he won, then four, five, six. I thought he swept four or five rounds, and boxed brilliantly.”
Rounds 4-7 were close, making it hard to say who won. You should have found out that the judges were giving those rounds to Fury because he was the star of the event, he was making a lot of money, and he was given a big win when he was last in Riyadh.
Eighth Round Nosedive: The Beginning of the End of Anger
“Something happened on the eighth. He was caught by a bullet in the nose, and started playing with it. I don’t know what happened. If he broke his nose, that changed,” said Bradley about Fury, who was injured by Usyk’s bent left hand.
“Usyk’s team preparation is very good because he was just starting to do that because Fury was already happy to invite him. He would jab there, and Usyk would come in and try to counter, and Fury would time him.
I think it was obvious that Usyk was getting the better of Fury when he got in close and fired combinations. He hadn’t changed enough to make the fight as easy as it could have been. When Usyk put the fight inside to throw combos starting in the 8th, Fury’s ship sank and he had no answer.
“What is he [Usyk] did he stop biting at that. He slowly entered and raised his hands up and fought. So when Fury punched, he was close enough to return his offense,” said Bradley. “So, he was countering. That was a small adjustment that he made. He did that in the ninth round.”
Fury looked tired during the championship rounds, and that helped Usyk because he had more energy. None of Fury’s fights in the past three years have been fought as fast as Usyk, and he looked exhausted from pushing his massive 262 lb frame in the ring.
“Having done that, that was all he wrote. That thick left hand was able to hurt Fury many times,” said Bradley on the left hand that was being thrown by Usyk who was holding Fury.
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