Did you notice how Usyk seemed to have slowed down?

If you watch Usyk in the world series of boxing you can see how much he's declined.

However he's still miles faster than everyone else at HW

 

Fury aged him as much as he could.

 

Both are past prime
Fury did spend 3 years binge eating and coked up

Yes he maybe doesn't rely on speed reflexes as much, but it was those attributes that made him such a menace combined with his size and awkwardness

Both guys are over the hill and enough of the excuses. The better man will win on the night and most think it will be usyk and very easy

I guess we will know very soon

 

He's slowed down significantly but he never looked remotely slow as Fury .

 

Usyk was at his highest career weight at 101.4 kilos. In cruiserweights he was probably around 95-96.

 

Of course, he lost his speed and reaction.

But in todays HW division, he needs to stay on his feet for 6 rounds, they will gassed out and he will beat them in the second half of the fight, since nobody has the stamina.

 

He still looked solid against Dubois, I think he looked slower due to the calibre of fighter he was fighting as well as the style he approached the fight with not being too volume-oriented like usual. Usyk had to be as tactical as possible

 

Both have slowed down and changed a lot over the last 4 years. Neither are physically near prime or ever will be again. They are both at 80% capacity maybe. Both have to train as reduced capacity because they are technically old...they're old and worn. If they train at full tilt they'll enter that ring drained and shot.

Fury lost his prime with his haitus with 2020 finding his final peak form.

Usyk lost his physical prime after 2018 but moving to HW he needed to put on mass and slow his workrate anyway and some style changes which he handled well.

Both are still technically far ahead of any of their peers. They're just now fighting their declining bodies as well. Fury's elbows have been shot since 2020 and he's had surgery for them and changed the way he punches because of it. Usyk has had a naff right shoulder for a lot of his pro career although he seems to have managed it very well. Both have had TUE cort steroid exemptions...

Fury Usyk is about focus, balls and stamina. Fury lost a little composure when he tired after a solid mid fight and this left an opening for a steady Usyk to find an edge to win. Normally Usyk makes his opponent slow down to a snail pace and fold & same for Fury. they both know the attrition game very well. Usyk took MASSIVE risks in playing the constant attrition game with Fury. Put everything on the line and it just about worked out. A lifetime of discipline is how he prevailed. Fury had 1 small lapse which was technically horrendous and it cost him the fight.

 

I did notice that Usyk looked to have noticeably have declined from the point of the Joshua fights and even the Dubois fight.

Some things like his reduced accuracy, and leakier defense could just be put down to him being in there with a better opponent, but I also thought he looked slower with his hands and feet, and he seemed more fatigued than usual in the middle rounds. This isn't too surprising considering his age. I hope he retires on top in the case of a second Fury victory or at most only has two more fights. He'll probably still have the ability to beat the top 10 but with his increasing age and declining athleticism there's a chance that he'll get caught with something big by a guy like Bakole or Zhang.

 

It's almost like he was fighting a better fighter than a plodding bum in AJ & Dubious who are there to be hit. Easy targets.

Usyk knew it was all about closing on Fury and outwork him which meant putting himself at risk. It was the core of his gameplan "I will not leave you alone" and it looked ROUGH for him during that mid bout but he kept fighting through the darkness and came into the light the very moment Fury slowed which he forced by popping his nose.

 

the jab and grab both ali and holmes employed wouldn't be nearly as effective now, as both were huge for their day.

 

They both showed greatness in that fight. Fury showed he is a very skilled heavyweight and Usyk proved that he is a pitbull like Sugar Ray Leonard who when it comes down to it will bite down and fight hard.

That being said I do think Usyk's age will play a factor in the second fight as he has slowed down which could work in Fury's favour.

 

Speed and reflexes a bit past it but has grown stronger and more robust.

I do hope he fights one more against Parker and hangs them up.