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TYSON FURY shook the world when he dethroned the great Wladimir Klitschko with a defensive masterclass back in 2015.
And the Gypsy King sent reverberations around the planet again when he demolished Deontay Wilder, the Alabama Sledgehammer, with a brutal attacking onslaught in 2020.
Tyson Fury stunned Wladimir Klitschko in 2015[/caption]
So whatever the odds, and whatever the logic, do not underestimate Fury as he seeks to become a world heavyweight champion for the third time here against Oleksandr Usyk in the Saudi capital tonight.
Fury is never more dangerous than when he is the underdog.
There is little wonder that Usyk starts as a clear favourite with the bookies and the boxing aficionados after he inflicted the first defeat of Fury’s professional career here in May.
The Ukrainian has always been a model of cool-headed consistency, his record almost flawless – an undisputed world cruiserweight champion before he outpointed Fury seven months ago to become the first undisputed heavyweight king of the 21st century.
The 6ft 9in Fury is an erratic, and always contradictory, beast. The karaoke-singing showman; the bad-mouthing lout.
The ducking, weaving craftsman; the bull-in-a-china-shop wallop merchant.
Trying to pin down Fury, inside or outside the ring, is like attempting to lasso a hurricane.
The 36-year-old from Morecambe is a force of nature, his mind whirring even faster than those Fred Astaire feet which belie his colossal frame.
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Yet few fighters have ever upset the odds so spectacularly on more than one occasion.
Klitschko was a 1-4 favourite before he was toppled in Dusseldorf nine years ago.
Wilder, the biggest puncher in the game, was widely fancied to win both of his first two bouts with Fury – who had failed a drug test and journeyed to the edge of reason during two and a half years out of the ring.
And yet after an extraordinary Lazarus act when knocked down late in their initial draw, Fury unleashed an explosive all-out attacking display to dismantle Wilder’s unbeaten record in Las Vegas five years ago.
Fury himself claims a victory tonight would not be anywhere near as seismic as his defeat of Klitschko – the Ukrainian who ruled boxing’s blue-riband division for almost a decade before the Gypsy King deposed him.
He said: “When I beat Klitschko, I was expected to get the floor wiped with me.
“Beating this fellow (Usyk), after losing by one point in my last fight on a split decision, … not a great night for me.
“It wouldn’t be the end of the world. It wouldn’t be like, ‘oh my God, massive upset’.
“I finished stronger than him in Round 12. He got carried back to the changing room, believe it or not. He was smashed to bits.
Fury also beat Wilder in 2021[/caption]
“I’ve got a picture on my phone, three days later I never had a mark on me.
“Three days later, he was butchered, broken jaw, broken eye socket, the lot. And that’s not even me at my best, nowhere near.
“I feel sorry for the lad, honestly. They’re talking about trilogies, but the beating I’m going to put on him on Saturday night, he’s going to be moving back down … I’m sure of that.
“But then again, money talks all languages, doesn’t it? There’s a lot of dough involved, so he might want to take another good hiding.”
Fury’s confidence is not shared by many in the fight game. But then he has ridiculed those experts before.
With humble thanks to his very excellent excellency Turki Alalshikh – as everybody always says in these parts – Fury and Usyk face off again and the prospect of a trilogy fight next year is what the great Saudi matchmaker craves.
If the 37-year-old Usyk prevails tonight, as is widely expected, he will stand as undeniably the pre-eminent boxer of his generation.
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Fury on points[/caption]
But for all the riches available to Alalshikh, there will be no great matches left for him to make in the heavyweight division any time soon.
Another Brit, Daniel Dubois holds the IBF crown but Usyk has already defeated him comprehensively.
Boxing is at a crossroads.
The purity of tonight’s fight – two great heavyweights contesting three of the four major belts – will not be surpassed for years.
Instead, there will be a diet of freak shows – YouTubers fighting has-beens or MMA crossover acts.
The noble art is threatening to descend into reality TV show territory. Vacuous celebrity so often trumps genuine talent in the online sphere.
Fury had dipped his toes into that world – almost suffering a stunning defeat by former UFC world champion Francis Ngannou here last year.
But this week, he’s had his meanest game face on – adamant that there will be none of the face-pulling showboating he rolled out during the initial fight with Usyk.
And when Fury is fully-focussed and deadly serious, the world has been known to shake.
Fury is never more dangerous than when he is the underdog[/caption]
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