Former two division world champion Ricky Hatton is backing Tyson Fury to topple Oleksandr Usyk, but he’s not ruling out the possibility of the smaller man walking away with his hand raised.
Fury, the WBC heavyweight champion, is back in action on October 28th, when he faces former UFC beltholder Francis Ngannou in a non-title fight in Saudi Arabia.
Usyk, who holds the WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA titles, recently retained his belts with a knockout of mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois.
A deal is already in place for Fury and Usyk to collide in an undisputed showdown – either in December or early 2024.
As long as Fury comes away with no cuts or injuries, the fight with Usyk will take place with no delays.
“I think [Fury] is [the favorite] but it’s not beyond the realms of impossibility [Usyk wins]. When you think Tyson has the height, the reach, he can box southpaw, orthodox, stand there, sit in there and have fight, he can sit and sway and move and make you miss off the backfoot. He can lean, counterpunch, he does everything Usyk does and he’s got the strength and weight advantage. But it’s not a foregone conclusion. I can’t see anything other than a Tyson win,” Hatton told Mighty Tips.
“Fury has fought your Dillian Whytes, your Deontay Wilders and with no disrespect intended, the big lump heavyweights who can stand there and have it. He is the smaller man but what Tyson needs to do to adapt from his fights with Whyte, Wilder and his fight in Saudi Arabia, all he has fought is big lumps and all of sudden he’s got a smaller man who might be a little bit nippy in and out and probably causes another problem that Tyson might not have been used to for four or five years. I think Tyson wins but the size difference against the smaller man causes problems he might not have had in the last four or five years.
“Usyk has a good chin but I don’t think he’s been hit by someone of the size of Tyson. The main problem Tyson is used to fighting 20 stone heavyweights. It’ll be difficult for Tyson but he’ll prepare properly in the gym, and I think he will have his game plan sorted and win the fight. But if it did go the other way I wouldn’t go ‘wow that is a shock’ but you would have to be a brave man to go against Tyson because of all the advantages he has.”