Dillian Whyte is set to return to the ring on December 15th as he plots a return back to the business end of the heavyweight division.
After enduring issues with a drug test last year that forced his bout with Anthony Joshua to be postponed, Whyte has largely been absent from the bigger picture at heavyweight.
Once one of British boxing’s biggest draws thanks to epic contests with Derek Chisora, Tyson Fury, and Joshua, Whyte is currently rebuilding himself and is hopeful of a return to the grand stage in 2025.
The heavyweight scene is currently thriving with numerous big fights on taking place and that trend is set to continue with Fury vs. Usyk on December 21, live on DAZN , and Daniel Dubois set to defend his world title in February.
Whyte is eager to be part of such contests, and he can get those plans up and running when he faces Ebenezer Tetteh in Gibraltar next month, another fight that can be seen live on DAZN .
The tough Ghanaian has only lost one fight and that was when he was stopped by Dubois in 2019.
Tetteh possesses an impressive record on paper, but he’ll be facing a huge step up in class when he faces the former world title challenger.
Oleksandr Usyk will defend his world heavyweight championship belts against Tyson Fury on 21 December after winning their first fight via split decision earlier this year
Anthony Crolla has suggested that Tyson Fury’s corner needs to be ‘addressed’ ahead of his highly anticipated heavyweight rematch with Oleksandr Usyk later this year.
In May, the Ukrainian fighter made history by becoming the first fighter to defeat ‘The Gypsy King’ in a professional fight after the 37-year-old secured a split-decision victory in Riyadh. They will now face off again on 21 December.
Following their initial meeting, Fury’s corner, which includes his father, John, faced backlash after video footage revealed them advising Fury that he was leading and didn’t need to push for a stoppage. Ultimately, only one judge concurred, with the other two favouring Usyk.
Since then, there have been numerous calls for Tyson to replace his father ahead of the rematch. Peter Fury, who coached his nephew to his first world title win against Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, acknowledged that too many voices were in the corner after the fight.
In a conversation with Freebets.com, Crolla reflected on the first fight back in May and maintained that Fury is ‘very confident’ about the rematch. “He’s looking really well, he’s speaking really well, seems on it, very confident,” he stated.
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – MAY 18: Oleksandr Usyk punches Tyson Fury during the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and Undisputed Heavyweight titles’ fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk at Kingdom Arena on May 18, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
“You never know with Tyson. He comes out with some mad stuff, but it genuinely looks like he is in a great place.
“I’m really looking forward to it. Another tough one, but he more or less had the fight won last time at the halfway stage.
“I think he’ll target Usyk’s body a bit more this time. He’s got a great chance of putting it right, but Usyk finds a way to win; his adaptability is unbelievable.
“After the first fight, I’d put Usyk as favourite but wouldn’t be surprised if Tyson avenges it.”
Discussing potential changes Fury might implement for the rematch, Crolla mentioned that Fury’s corner could use some adjustments. “A few adjustments to make,” he said. “(Tyson) got a lot of stick last time, but I don’t know how much it affects Tyson because he is that kind of character; I think he does a lot of thinking for himself.”
“The corner certainly needs addressing; I’m a big believer of one voice in the corner, one clear voice, so we’ll see, but they’ll be the kinds of adjustments he’ll make.”
Despite this, earlier in the month, the 36-year-old boxer maintained that no significant changes would be made for the rematch. In a conversation with Paul Dempsey before the release of the new boxing game, ‘Undisputed’, Fury was asked how long he was spending on tactical planning for his second bout with Usyk.
“Not much time,” he responded. “I know what I’ve got to do, nothing drastic. People can say, ‘I want to change trainers, or I’ll blame it on my conditioning coach, or I’ll blame it on the cook, or I’ll blame it on the mouse next door.’ Same team, same everything. I know what I’ve got to do.”
He further commented: “I thought I won the fight last time. I gave him – me boxing all my life and watching boxing my whole career – I gave him rounds eight, nine and ten, and round nine was a 10-8.
“So that’s what I gave him out of the fight, but obviously, the judges saw it a bit differently; a couple of them did. One of them had me winning. That’s what it was. It was as close as it can be.”
Smart fighters win rematches and that could be a problem for Tyson Fury in late December when he fights Oleksandr Usyk again following last May’s defeat in Riyadh.
It was the great American boxing trainer and guru, Manny Steward, who put forward the idea that in any rematch, the smart boxer, having lost the first fight, will win the second fight. It was one of Steward’s cherished little gems and it is dependent on one of the boxers being smarter than the other – that is the problem for Fury: Usyk is his equal in the boxing brains department.
Steward talked about his theory one night in Las Vegas a few days before Lennox Lewis met Hasim Rahman in their hot rematch; seven months earlier in 2001, Rahman had shocked the boxing world and dropped and stopped Lewis in South Africa. The defeat was stupid, the revenge was clever.
Lewis, who passed on his undisputed champion mantle to Usyk in May, had already changed the result in two rematches before he climbed through the ropes and knocked out Rahman in four rounds at the Mandalay Bay. In 1997, Lewis beat Oliver McCall and two years later in 1999, Lewis outpointed Evander Holyfield. In the Holyfield rematch, Lewis was smarter; in the McCall rematch, Lewis was simply coherent.
Fury has a significant win in a rematch on his record, but it had little to do with being smart, boxing sensibly and being slick; in 2020, two years after their hard draw, Fury walked through Deontay Wilder in seven brutal rounds. It was one of the most outrageous changes in tactics in any rematch ever. Some might claim it was a smart move, a brilliant switch of tactics, but it was so risky. It showed Fury’s ability to stick to a plan and that is something that Usyk must be mindful of when the first bell sounds.
In the second Wilder fight, Fury was a different person, and Wilder had no idea how to deal with the man in front of him. Wilder was saved from his own bravery. Their third fight was just a ridiculous war, and both came close to losing before it finished in the 11th when Fury dropped Wilder for the third time. It was about guts and heart, not boxing brain in that incredible third fight.
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – MAY 18: Oleksandr Usyk punches Tyson Fury during the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and Undisputed Heavyweight titles’ fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk at Kingdom Arena on May 18, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Usyk also has an important rematch win, but it is possible to argue that his second win over Anthony Joshua was not as clear as his initial victory. In their first fight, outdoors at Tottenham Hotspur in September of 2021, Usyk boxed with sense and caution and won a unanimous decision. The scores were by five, four and two rounds in his favour. On the night, Joshua experimented with a variety of styles and fell short. The fight remains an oddity.
The rematch was just under a year later, in Jeddah, and this time, Joshua made some changes, and it was closer; Usyk won a split decision, but it was not as clear. In all fairness, Usyk just repeated the formula from the first fight and that same approach could be enough when the first bell sounds on December 21 for the Fury rematch – all the pressure is on Fury to change the outcome. The pair will meet in London this week to officially launch their December rematch.
There is a solid case that SugarHill Steward and Andy Lee, the cornerman duo from the second Wilder fight, will get Fury to be more aggressive and go for Usyk from the very first bell. In the months before the Wilder rematch, Lee and Steward had said that their boxer would walk through Wilder with two-fisted aggression; nobody really believed them. The same could happen in Riyadh in December; perhaps, the same should happen in Riyadh.
One of the differences between Wilder and Usyk is that Usyk can adapt; on the night in Las Vegas when Fury charged out and just let his hands go, Wilder was trapped in a web of his own technical shortcomings. Usyk can survive a charge like that, move, hold and use his ringcraft. It’s not simple beating Usyk, but Fury is both big enough and smart enough to apply the right type of pressure. However, Fury is nearly five years older and that matters. It is not an easy fight to predict.
Anthony Joshua Set To Smash The Record That Prompted Tyson Fury To ‘Retire’
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have not yet met in the ring, much to the frustration of many fight fans.
The two celebrated British heavyweights have huge fights coming up later in the year, though not with each other
Joshua is aiming to become a three-time world champion by beating Daniel Dubois when the two meet on September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London.
‘AJ’ is on a good run of form having knocked out Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou in his last three outings, while Dubois too has impressed by stopping both Fillip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller.
Fury, who recently admitted his respect for Joshua, is looking to get revenge on Oleksandr Usyk who beat him in May for the undisputed world heavyweight title. It was Fury’s first loss in his professional career.
That contractual rematch led Usyk to vacate the IBF belt, meaning Dubois has been elevated and will defend against ‘AJ.’ Their fight is now set to break the attendance record for a boxing match at Wembley.
The record currently stands at 94,000 people which is how many attended when Fury fought and beat Dillian Whyte in 2022 to retain his WBC crown after fighting in the UK for the first time since 2018. Post-fight, Fury briefly entered retirement, saying he had achieved all there was to achieve in the sport of boxing“
What a welcome I had tonight in front of 94,000 of my fellow countrymen. What a night. I single-handedly sold out 94,000 tickets. I pat myself on the back for that“I promised my wife that would be it after the [Deontay] Wilder fight. But I got offered a fight at Wembley and I owed it to the fans. What a way to go out
Fury returned to the ring eight months later to defeat Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Now, Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh has successfully applied for the capacity to be increased. The stadium is set to welcome 96, 000 boxing fans. There are still tickets available for the event, backed up by a good undercard, starting from around £75.
Should Fury beat Usyk, and if Joshua comes through his fight with Dubois, many hope the two will come together at the start of next year for what would be an epic undisputed contest in front of another capacity crowd – perhaps record-breaking again.
Has No Doubt Who Wins ? Former Anthony Joshua Trainer Robert Garcia Has No Doubt Who Wins AJ vs Tyson Fury
Coach Robert Garcia has looked forward to an all-British banger between former charge Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury
Garcia is a decorated coach who has worked with many world champions including Mikey Garcia, Nonito Donaire, Brandon Ríos and Marcos Maidana. He currently corners pound-for-pound star Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez.
Because of his many years of experience with talented fighters, he was brought in by Joshua after the Brit lost his first fight with Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and was looking to correct mistakes and exact revenge in the rematch in 2022.
It didn’t work out like that and Joshua again lost on points over 12 rounds, despite a more competitive showing. He separated from Garcia and linked up with Derrick James.
After a couple of fights with James, Joshua hooked up with former Fury coach Ben Davison, who oversaw his last stoppage wins over Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou and is now guiding him through camp ahead of his IBF world title shot with Daniel Dubois on September 21.
Should Joshua come through that, and if Fury wins his rematch with Usyk having lost their first fight for undisputed in May, the two British big men could come together in the ring next year.
Speaking to ESNEWS, Garcia was asked how he thinks his former fighter would fare against Fury should it happen, predicting a big finish.
“I think Joshua knocks him out.”
Although both winning would potentially set up an undisputed bout, Riyadh Season’s Turki Alalshikh has recently stated that he wants to make AJ-Fury regardless of ‘The Gypsy King’s result against Usyk in the rematch
“I Can’t Go Against Him” Otto Wallin Predicts Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua After Facing Both
Otto Wallin has fought and lost to both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
The Swedish southpaw took Fury the distance, inflicting a cut so bad that there couldn’t have been many complaints if the referee had stopped it early. The Brit battled through bloodily, though, and took a unanimous decision on the scorecards. Post-fight he would split with trainer Ben Davison in favour of SugarHill Steward, who he has been with since.
In an interesting turn of events, Davison was the man Joshua chose for his corner earlier this year, their first together fight being Wallin. ‘AJ’ demolished him, landing significant blows to body and head before the Swede, who suffered a fractured nose, was retired by his corner after the fifth.
Speaking to Sun Sport after both bouts, Wallin confirmed that the tougher fight was against Joshua but still made Fury the favourite in an all-British heavyweight clash.
“I feel like Joshua is a very good fighter, very good power, very good counter puncher. I feel like he definitely has a shot with Fury. And you just never know what Tyson Fury shows up. I still have a hard time going against Tyson in that fight.
But, the fights if you compare it my fight against Joshua was a lot tougher than the one I had against Fury. That doesn’t mean everything but I give Joshua more of a chance than I did before. But I still would probably pick Fury as the favourite.”
There’s a chance the fight still happens after years of stumbling blocks and failed talks. Fury, who lost out on the chance at becoming undisputed when he was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in May, will rematch the Ukrainian in December. Meanwhile, Joshua faces newly-elevated world champion Daniel Dubois on September 21.
Should they both win, the clash will be targeted for the first half of 2025
“It’s Not Even Close” Tyson Fury Names The Biggest Puncher He’s Ever Been In The Ring With.
Tyson Fury has been in the ring with some heavy hitters over his sixteen years a professional.
The ‘Gypsy King’ was largely dominant in the first portion of career, but hit the deck against Neven Pajkic and Steve Cunningham before scoring an early finish himself
A remarkable comeback to the sport after three years out saw him face Deontay Wilder for the WBC World Title, fighting to a controversial draw after surviving two knockdowns. Fury won the second by demolition and the third with another knockout although not before touching the canvas again.
His warm-up fight for an undisputed battle with Oleksandr Usyk was against former UFC heavyweight champion and world recorder holder for most powerful punch, Francis Ngannou. Although barely anyone gave the MMA fighter a chance going into the contest, he dropped Fury in third round and only just lost out by a split decision on the scorecards.
The came Usyk and, although the 6’9 Brit had periods of success in the fight, it was the Ukrainian that took the decision on the scorecards after a massive 10-8 round in the ninth when Fury looked out on his feet.
When asked by The Stomping Ground if Francis Ngannou hit harder than former-foe and notorious heavy hitter Wilder, ‘The Gypsy King’ claimed he wasn’t troubled by Ngannou’s power and that Wilder was ‘by a mile’ the biggest puncher he had ever been in the ring with.
“Deontay, by far. Francis Ngannou is a big puncher but I wasn’t really troubled by any of his punches, it wasn’t like dynamite and every time he hit me I was wobbled or anything, it was just one shot to the back of the head and that was it. So Wilder is the biggest puncher I’ve ever been in the ring with by a mile.”
Many say the damage did to Wilder over the course of the Fury trilogy changed him for good, and he currently seems to be wrestling with the idea of retirement after back-to-back losses against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. Should he hang up the gloves, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ will do so with a record of 43 wins with 42 knockouts.
“He Knows It, i will eat him” Retired Heavyweight Champion Says He Would ‘Eat Tyson Fury For Breakfast
Tyson Fury has only ever lost one professional fight so far.
That came back in May when he stepped into the ring with Oleksandr Usyk to compete for all four of the major world titles. It was the first undisputed fight in almost 25 years and saw Fury come out on the wrong side of a points decision after a close contest over 12 rounds.
In December this year, ‘The Gypsy King’ has a chance to avenge the loss and immediately after the first fight spoke of having too much fun in the ring and how he will improve.
His corner came under some fire for mixed messages in the later rounds but he has since confirmed he will stick with the same team second time round.
While he may still be considered one of the best fighters of his generation, former world champion Frank Bruno doesn’t think that makes him an all-time great
He told DAZN that Fury would not have lasted back in his heyday of the 1980s and 1990s.
“I wish Tyson fury the best but he knows deep down in his heart that if he was around in the days that I was younger I would eat him for dinner and breakfast as well. I’m not going to sit here and disrespect him but we’re talking about the era I’ve been through, he’s living in a different cloud to what cloud I was on.”
Bruno lived during a time when the likes of Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson were world champions. He fought both Hall of Famers but recently revealed that in fact it was fellow champion James “Bonecrusher” Smith who hit harder than both of them.
“I Will Not Hide It” Usyk Rates The Power Of Anthony Joshua And Tyson Fury After Beating Both
Oleksandr Usyk has beaten five Brits in the last six years, the most notable being Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
After knocking out Tony Bellew in his last cruiserweight fight, the Ukrainian moved up to heavyweight in the hope of becoming undisputed in a second division
He beat Derek Chisora before taking the unified titles from Joshua via unanimous decision and keeping hold of them in the rematch with a split decision.
A stoppage of Daniel Dubois served as his second defence before he scored another split decision win against Fury in their long-awaited undisputed clash.
Speaking at a press conference in his home country following the Joshua bout, Usyk said that one of Joshua’s punches ‘sent him to Elon Musk’ for a while before his fighting focus was re-established.
“There were quite tangible blows. You can see it on my face too. There was a cut when we hit our heads. Then a light blow from his jab broke an eyebrow, which was flooding my right eye with blood.
“I will not hide that there were very sensitive blows to the chin, to the stomach, which sent me to Elon Musk for a while, but I quickly returned. In battle, adrenaline and emotions are so overwhelming that you feel it after the battle – pain, dizziness and everything else. In the ring, you are very focused on your actions.”
Joshua would typically be recognised as the bigger puncher when discussed with Fury, but speaking to the 3 Knockdown Rule podcast Usyk held ‘The Gypsy King’s power in high regard, too – particularly one uppercut.
” I got uppercut you know, it’s like very pain. Hard pain. I feel maybe 10 seconds I say ‘hey, God, thank you, help me.’ I say to myself ‘hey Alex, move, move. If you stop, he’ll kill you.’”
His manager Egis Klimas then added what Usyk said to him about the uppercut after the fight.
“It was such a big pain I can explain only one thing, it felt like my tooth came out.”
What the Ukrainian felt was an old dental implant being impacted rather than the broken jaw Fury had claimed to have inflicted. After taking the best shots from Joshua, Dubois and Fury, Usyk still maintains that it was Chisora who hit him hardest
Will Be Easier To Beat, Oleksandr Usyk Has No Doubt Whether Tyson Fury Will Be Easier Or Harder To Beat In Rematch
Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are set to renew their rivalry in Saudi Arabia in December of this year.
These two modern heavyweight greats put on a superb fight back in May to contest the first undisputed title in almost 25 years.
It was the former Olympic gold medalist and undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk who came out on top after a close fight that was won off the back of one big ninth round for the Ukrainian.
Despite being the naturally smaller man – which is something he was teased for by Fury for many years – Usyk managed to land a power shot that had Fury momentarily in trouble and taking a 10 count.
That led to some rather confused corner work in Fury’s team with mixed instructions being given on how to see the fight out. Despite that, Fury has said he will keep the same team for the rematch.
Ahead of that, Usyk has been speaking to Mail Sport Boxing about whether or not he thinks the second fight will be harder than the first having already admitted that the first fight with Fury was the hardest of his career.
I think it will be even more difficult. Look, I always set myself up for a hard night, never an easy one. I’m expecting the cosmos that will crush me so only my eyes will see what happening. I get pumped for such things. I don’t think that it will be easier for me, but I don’t need it to be easier. Diamonds cannot be found in easy, because they are not there. You cannot succeed without hard work, everything that is given easily does not grow.”
Fury too has promised he will be better than the first time around which makes this rematch one of the most intriguing fights of the year.
