‘Fury needs to be very careful’: Whyte sees Usyk KO possibility in rematch
Dillian Whyte believes Oleksandr Usyk can stop Tyson Fury in their rematch on Dec. 21.
Dillian Whyte is warning his old rival Tyson Fury that he’ll need to beware of Oleksandr Usyk’s power when the two rematch on Dec. 21 in Saudi Arabia.
Whyte sees the possibility for a stoppage either way, but says Fury “needs to be very careful” because Usyk has developed nicely as a heavyweight and is punching harder these days.
From Sky Sports:
“[Usyk] caught him pretty good [in the first fight]. In some places in the world, they would have stopped that fight. But because of Fury’s nature and the fact he shows that he gets up and he can keep going, that’s why they didn’t stop it. But I think Usyk can stop him. Either man [can stop the other]. Fury had Usyk in big trouble, a few moments before. It just goes to show that Usyk is growing into the heavyweight physique and is a lot stronger and he’s punching a lot harder and is a lot more aggressive. Fury needs to be very careful in the rematch, very, very careful.”
Usyk (22-0, 14 KO) beat Fury (34-1-1, 24 KO) by decision on May 18 in Riyadh, winning the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world, which was then immediately dismantled because of the fighters having a contractual obligation for a rematch. Daniel Dubois now holds the IBF title, though Usyk still has the WBC, WBA, and WBO belts.
As for the 36-year-old Whyte (30-3, 26 KO), he’s fought just twice since his 2022 loss to Fury at Wembley Stadium, beating Jermaine Franklin Jr in a controversial decision late that same year, and then returning with a win over Christian Hammer in a small fight from Ireland in March of this year. Whyte is slated to face Ebenezer Tetteh (23-1, 20 KO) in a 10-round fight on Dec. 15 in Gibraltar, at the same venue where he stopped Alexander Povetkin in their 2021 rematch.