Usyk vs Fury Betting Preview
You can tell just by looking at the Usyk vs Fury betting odds how close this fight is. Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will touch gloves this Friday in Saudi Arabia, with all the major heavyweight boxing titles on the line, and as we go to press, Fury (the WBC and lineal champion) is the slight –115 favourite on the boxing odds board at Bodog Sportsbook. Usyk (WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO) is available at even money.
This is the biggest heavyweight fight in quite some time. It’s been almost a quarter-century since boxing had an undisputed heavyweight champion; Lennox Lewis – the same man who won gold for Canada at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul – was WBC champion in 1999 when he defeated Evander Holyfield, winning the WBA, IBF and IBO titles in the process.
We do have a “unified” champion, though. Usyk holds most of the hardware in the heavyweight division, but if the big Ukrainian wants to be the full-on undisputed champ, he has to beat Fury this Saturday.
Judging by the odds, it seems like the betting public is once again lining up behind the affable Briton, so we wouldn’t be surprised if his odds get even shorter before bell time.
Then again, the Usyk odds were dancing around +115 when this bout was first announced for February 17; then they had to postpone the fight when Fury suffered a nasty cut over his right eye during training. It’s reportedly all systems go for Friday’s matchup at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, but why are the Usyk vs Fury betting lines different now? Let’s dig deeper.
While the boxing world debates whether Fury is being pushed back into the ring too quickly, let’s take a closer look at the two champions in question, and see what might be in store for us this Saturday.
Usyk vs. Fury: Careers to Date and Biggest Wins
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) has had the more prominent career of these two combatants. The pride of Manchester made his debut in 2008 and quickly rose up the ranks, eventually winning the British and Commonwealth titles in 2011. Then Fury stunned the world in 2015 by upsetting Wladimir Klitschko via unanimous decision for the lineal heavyweight title.
Fury’s path to glory took some interesting twists and turns from there – more on that in a moment. It would be another three years before his next marquee matchup; Fury fought Deontay Wilder to a split-decision draw, the only blemish on his record thus far. Two years later, Fury made good by taking Wilder’s WBC strap with a seventh-round TKO, then famously rose back from the near-dead to knock out Wilder in the 11th round of their 2021 trilogy fight.
While Fury was struggling to arrange another big-name bout, even teasing retirement and dabbling in pro wrestling, Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) was collecting titles. But he first made his mark back in 2012 when he claimed heavyweight gold for Ukraine at the London Olympics. Then Usyk made his pro debut in 2013 as a cruiserweight, winning the WBO belt three years later and unifying multiple titles in 2018.
There was nowhere to go but up for Usyk. He made his heavyweight debut in 2019, and shook up the boxing world in 2021 by out-pointing the larger Anthony Joshua for the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles – right in Joshua’s backyard in London. Their 2022 rematch in Saudi Arabia was closer, but Usyk still earned the split decision, and deservedly so.
Usyk vs. Fury: Controversial Moments and Memorable Quotes
These two fighters come from different worlds. Fury’s hardscrabble upbringing (they still call him “The Gypsy King”) and undeniable charisma have led him down some dark paths; after defeating Klitschko in 2015, their rematch was postponed multiple times, then cancelled following positive doping tests for nandrolone and cocaine.
Boxing took a back seat for Fury at this point. “They say I’ve got a version of bipolar,” Fury told Rolling Stone magazine in 2016. “I’m a manic depressive. I just hope someone kills me before I kill myself.” He relinquished his titles and had his boxing licence stripped, but after some soul-searching and lots of training, Fury was back in the ring in 2018.
Then he left again. Throughout that amazing trilogy with Wilder, Fury tried to get Joshua to sign on the dotted line – even calling him “chicken” after Fury vs. Wilder I. Instead, the WBC ordered Fury to fight mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte in 2022. Fury won with a sixth-round TKO, then retired, only to come right back and successfully defend the title against Derek Chisora via TKO in the 10th.
Usyk is a puppy dog by comparison. The closest he ever came to controversy was when he returned to Ukraine after the 2022 Russian invasion, putting his boxing career on hold to join a territorial defence battalion. “My country and my honour are more important to me than a championship belt,” Usyk told CNN. After a short stay, Usyk returned to the ring with the blessing of Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, brother of Wladimir and a former heavyweight champion himself.
Usyk vs. Fury: Boxing Styles
If styles do indeed make fights, Friday’s matchup should be a barn-burner. Fury, age 35, is a mountain of a man at 6-foot-9 with an 85-inch reach. Some say his style is awkward, but it’s more that Fury doesn’t use any one style in particular, preferring to mix it up depending on the opponent he’s facing. Don’t be fooled by his size, his background or his promos – Fury is a very smart boxer who emphasises jabs, feints and footwork over raw punching power.
Then you have Usyk, who’s about as clinical a fighter as they come. Two years older than Fury, he’s the smaller man in this fight at 6-foot-3 with a 78-inch reach; that size difference will make it difficult for Usyk to employ his usual tactics of keeping his distance and landing jabs and hooks. However, as a southpaw, Usyk may be able to find the right angles this Friday to exploit Fury’s orthodox stance – much like he did with Joshua during their two fights.
Usyk vs. Fury: Personal Lives
Fury’s life outside the ring has created more headlines than his actual boxing career. He’s married with seven children, including four sons all named Prince. As for the “Gypsy King” moniker, Fury wears it with pride; he may be from England, and a staunch supporter of the Three Lions national soccer team, but Fury identifies as an Irish Traveller, and has homes in Las Vegas as well as Morecambe in Lancashire.
Fury’s personal brand of religion and politics hasn’t rubbed everyone the right way. And he’s anything but shy when it comes to promos, once showing up at a press conference driving a Lamborghini and wearing a Batman costume. Despite claiming in 2017 that he didn’t want to “play a character anymore,” Fury made his WWE debut in 2019, defeating Braun Strowman at the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.
Again, Usyk’s personal life is about as spotless as it gets – but there’s one angle that could affect him this Saturday. Usyk is married with three children, the last of whom was born January 28 while Usyk was in Spain training for the Fury fight. Between that and having to put up with this bout getting postponed, Usyk’s focus might not be as sharp as usual once he steps inside the squared circle.
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In the meantime, we’re about to see just how well Fury has recovered from that cut he suffered during training. Keep hitting that refresh button for the latest boxing odds at Bodog, and may the better man win.
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