What if Fury came in lighter in the rematch?

The reason he did not get stopped the second time around isn't an extra 14 lbs.

It was his high guard which was able to partially block Usyk's left hands in the second fight.

In the first fight, he kept his hands low and got caught repeatedly with big left hands.

If Fury used a low guard in the second fight as he did in the first fight, he would have been stopped.

I was cheering for Usyk both times but Sugar Hill has to be amongst the most mediocre coaches in the history of boxing. Why didn't he tell Fury to use a high guard in the first fight? Did he really believe that Fury's 263 lb body is small enough to avoid Usyk's left hands with head movement alone? Lol. Fury is such a big target and Usyk is so accurate, you can't avoid Usyk's left with a low guard if you are so huge.

If Fury used a high guard in the second fight while coming in light like the first fight and actually throwing right uppercuts and more straight rights, he would have done better. Probably still lost but done better.

 

The fact he gained so much weight IMO isn't some strategy. The guy was going on benders a couple of weeks after the fight. 1-2 beers on a Friday night are fine but not getting blacked out drunk. He could do that post retirement.

The guy put on 20 lbs and realized that if he tried to take the weight off leading up to the rematch, he might weaken himself taking so much weight off so quick.

You are right. Rematch could have been an all time classic. Instead it was merely one of the many decent fights in heavyweight history. Fury was clearly scared to gas out completely so he paced himself.

 

His ego was always fragile and he couldn't admit he'd lost the first bout - to say he needed to do anything better would undermine his narrative... Even if he knew full well he did, and was doing his best to work on it?

I think Usyk was always likely to do better in the second - he's another level when it comes to ring IQ and he'd already downloaded Fury into the supercomputer during the first bout... To do better, Fury would've had to find a way to surprise him, changing things up in a way that was both effective and better than he'd been in the first bout.

Or in short - he was just outmatched, Usyk was too good and was always going to be.

 

I think a lot of these heavyweights add foolish weight. Fury, Wilder and AJ all looked better at their lighter weights

The extra weight did nothing for Fury in the rematch. The second fight was a let down. Fury struggled to let his hands go. Sure he didn't nearly get KO'd like the first fight but he was never as effective in the rematch as he was in round 4-6 of the first fight either. Higher floor lower ceiling

 

I also don't think Sugar Hill is some phenomenal coach, but you have to realize what he's working with. Fury is never going to be able to drop his bad habits. He's always going to drop his hands and try relying on head movement to stay out of trouble. He's always going to screw his feet up, square up, etc. I actually thought their game plan was better the first time around. That's the only way Fury can possibly beat Usyk. By dancing around, keeping Usyk off him, slapping his ridiculous jab out, showboating, and stealing rounds through showmanship. He can't out box Usyk. He can't knock Usyk out. Of course, Fury just didn't have the legs and the gas tank at this point in his career to keep up with Usyk's pace for 12 rounds. That's why he managed all of four good rounds in the middle and then got blasted out once he got tired.

It's kind of hard to pick up, but if you go to YouTube and The Ring Magazine channel and watch the fight back, you can hear Sugar yelling at Fury in the second half of that fight. He's literally screaming FORWARD! over and over. And Fury ain't going forward. He's backing up and retreating constantly. So that's what Sugar is dealing with. A fighter who doesn't have it physically or mentally to do what he needs to do to win the fight. Fury was desperate to pace himself especially in rounds 6-12 in that fight and he was desperate to not get clocked too hard by an Usyk left hand because he knows his punch resistance is gone.

 

I think that the ship has sailed for Fury to ever beat Usyk. He had his chance twice and Usyk was just the better man. Now Fury is older and inactive whilst Usyk is still beating the top guys in the division.

 

If he were trying, he would have...

A) Come in lighter for the strategy he employed.
B) Took a more physical approach for the weight he came in at.

It was a cash-out.

 

In my opinion Fury was in much better shape in the first match. Besides being too heavy, I think he was also too cautious, the ninth round of the first fight was probably a vivid memory. In the first fight he was in perfect control, but unfortunately for him, he was facing one of the best fighters of all time, who found the right key to win the fight.

 

If Fury didn't have such a on and off lifestyle all these years, then who knows.

 

Fury talked a big game before the rematch about how he couldn't win by decision and thus was going to knock Usyk out. Said he was gonna put Usyk in the hurt locker and retire him where he wouldn't want a trilogy fight.

Then Fury went out there and proceeded to fight safety first with his right hand glued to his chin for most of the fight. Just terrified of getting an Ivan to the chin. Cried afterwards about how he was on the front foot all night except he actually spent the majority of the fight in reverse because he didn't want to get into extended exchanges with Usyk. Every time Usyk did land with the left, Fury looked stunned. At one point Usyk landed a left that had Fury frozen like he'd just blue screened.

I honestly had trouble giving Fury more than a couple of rounds in that fight. Yeah there were some close rounds, especially early, but Fury never definitively won any of the rounds outside of maybe the 5th. Just slow, timid, way too interested in fighting dirty, and way too sloppy with his punches. Dude landed just a handful of clean shots on Usyk the entire night. None of which had Usyk bothered whatsoever.

 

To me, it is like what if I had studied harder in college and partied less. If you let me do it over 10 times, the only thing that might change one of those times is I party even more and study even less.
I think Fury actually did maximize his career given his temperament. He is always going off the rails after the Klitschko fight. I think sometimes though doesn't come back from that.
He had a really impressive run for a guy that likes to party to that level.
The only real regret has to be no Joshua fight. That would have been so much fun and I am not even British.

 

Also... If he was really trying... He might've either not tried to age Usyk out the first time, or he might've used the time taking genuine challenges that might've improved him instead of Chisora 3 (I like Del but Fury just always had his number) and Ngannou, where he embarrassed himself.


His temperament was always a major problem with maximising his potential by the standards that the hype narrative set for him... At the same time, without that blasé arrogance and swagger he might well have been less effective anyway.

I don't think any version of Fury we've seen could've beaten Usyk - and the versions that might have been better not only didn't exist but very possibly couldn't exist.

 

No amount of "what ifs" is going to convince anyone that Fury would ever have beaten Usyk in any given circumstance. He got beat twice thoroughly with no controversy and that's all there is to it.