Tyson Fury knows how to beat Oleksandr Usyk after ‘hard lesson’ of first defeat

Tyson Fury can defeat Oleksandr Usyk in their December rematch after the “hard lesson” of their first fight, says Top Rank president Todd DuBoef.

Fury fought Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in an outstanding undisputed heavyweight world title fight earlier this year, losing by split decision.

They are set to fight again in Riyadh on December 21 and DuBoef of Top Rank, Fury’s co-promoter, believes the Briton can gain revenge in the rematch.

Not that he’s confident in that outcome.

“I was confident halfway through the fight he was going to destroy him [Usyk]. I was sitting there going what a one-sided fight this has become and then he let him off the hook. That’s what I thought,” DuBoef told Sky Sports.

“[Fury] started off a little slow but then just got into his rhythm and I thought it was a whitewash. Then got hit with that one left hand, [which] got the eye and the nose. I think he got caught right then and struggled.

“I don’t have confidence in anything. I thought I was seeing this thing that was amazing.”

DuBoef thinks Fury will win “if he stays focused. If he doesn’t play around”.

“In those middle rounds it felt like he was just teeing off on him and I think he just got a little lackadaisical and confident,” DuBoef said.

“I think he learned a lesson and it was a hard lesson. But I also believe the other guy’s going to be better this time, because he has more confidence.

“I think his personality the way he [Fury] is in the ring, is just his character. But I think he’s going to not take things for granted and I think learned a hard lesson.”

Fury and his battle with Usyk will be at the centre of a new documentary series, ‘The Fight Life,’ that chronicles Top Rank boxing through the year.

Frank Warren, who also co-promotes Fury, believes the Briton can bounce back from his loss to Usyk, a first professional career defeat for Fury.

“He’s quite philosophical. He felt he won the fight. I thought he just nicked it, but it was a close fight. It could have gone either way, a lot of neutrals, like Thomas Hauser, people with no axe to grind, thought it was a draw, one round [in it], and it was a split decision,” Warren told Sky Sports.

“He’s got to go out and, what he did in that first half of the fight, he’s got to carry that through.

“I thought he genuinely was going to stop [Usyk]. That great shot, you could see it, he wobbled back. He’s game and did what he had to do.

“I just feel Tyson, he’s a smart guy, he knows what he’s got to do.”