Shane McGuigan is excited to watch the skill on show in upcoming Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight
British trainer Shane McGuigan believes that weight loss will benefit Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) ahead of his showdown with Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
The pair will meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 18 when, after their original clash was postponed due to a cut that Fury sustained in sparring, a new heavyweight king will finally be crowned.
At the “Ring of Fire” press conference last week, when Fury appeared before the world’s media in his home town, Morcombe, Mcguigan noticed some subtle changes that the WBC and lineal heavyweight champion has made.
Speaking with the Stomping Ground, he said: “[Fury] looks like he’s trained; he looked chiselled up round the face, and I think he had to do that.
“There were certain fights where he could’ve kept a bit of weight on him like, for instance, against [Deontay] Wilder; Wilder was naturally quite thin.
“It was good for him to keep a bit of weight on, because he could nullify [Wilder] and use his strength. But, with Usyk, he just doesn’t do that. He’s going to have to match [Usyk] for footwork and speed.
“I don’t think it’s going to be one of them ones where we walk away from it like it’s [Arturo] Gatti vs [Micky] Ward but, from a skill aspect, I’m really excited.”
Following his fight last October when, in Riyadh, he clinched victory after a 10-round war with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, Fury was heavily criticized for his performance.
While the 35-year-old never made any excuses, much of the boxing fraternity have speculated that he was underprepared, having mistakenly underestimated his opponent who, at the time, was making his professional debut.
Now, Fury seems to have taken no shortcuts in his training camp for Usyk, knowing that this could be his last roll of the dice at elite level.