RJJ claims Tyson has made himself vulnerable
Speaking to Betway, Roy Jones Jr previewed the upcoming heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
The four-weight world champion analysed the upcoming undisputed appointment, assigned for February 2024 in Saudi Arabia. Fury laboured to a points win against heavyweight debutant Francis Ngannou in his last fight and was far from impressive, which leads the 54-year-old American to believe he his put himself at a disadvantage because of it.
RJJ shared his unique expert insight into what went wrong against the MMA champion, who knocked Fury down in the third round, and how he could fair in his next fight, "Here’s the thing that people don’t seem to realise, Tyson Fury fights to the level of his opposition. He didn’t feel threatened by Francis Ngannou because he didn’t go out there, get in shape and get mentally prepared to where he felt threatened by Francis Ngannou.
"But people didn’t see Francis Ngannou as a threat because he isn’t a boxer, and especially not for 10 rounds. He knows Oleksandr Usyk is a threat and he’s going to fight Usyk totally different to how he fought Ngannou."
There's an age-old boxing analogy that a good big man beats good small man, and this is a logic that Jones Jr. seemingly supports, "It is [a case of a bigger man beating a smaller man] but because of Ngannou, Usyk will have a lot more confidence now [about beating Tyson Fury]. My prediction before that fight was that Tyson would win but it’s going to be a lot tougher now because of the fact of the last fight.
"Tyson knew Francis Ngannou was a type of guy he wasn’t supposed to struggle with but I have to go with Tyson Fury. You’ve got to go back in history but he will rank pretty high [in the all-time great list] because nobody has beaten Oleksandr Usyk yet."
World champions Fury and Usyk come together on February 17 next year to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999.
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