TYSON FURY has been tipped to make a sensational tactical switch for his Saudi showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.
The Wythenshawe warrior will bid to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in nearly 25 years when he throws down with the undefeated Ukrainian on May 18.
The fleetfooted Usyk, who twice rang rings around Anthony Joshua, will be the smoothest operator Fury has faced in his near 16-year professional career.
And former trainer Jamie Moore reckons the Gypsy King could try to negate Usyk’s southpaw craftiness by COPYING his stance.
During TNT Sports’ Fight Breakdown, the 45-year-old said: ” We’ve seen Fury, in the past, box southpaw a lot.
“And I’ve got a feeling he’s gonna box this fight southpaw.
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“Because he’s quite adaptable and he’s really good at fighting a southpaw.
“And it’s easier to get to a southpaw if you’re a southpaw and you know what you’re doing.
“And I can’t recall Usyk boxing a top-level southpaw. Not since he was an amateur.
“So I’ve got a feeling that’s what Fury’s tactics might be.”
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Moore reckons Team Usyk have will have anticipated Fury pulling a shock switcheroo.
He said: “So if I’m putting myself in Usyk’s coaches’ shoes, I’m going, ‘See I think he’s gonna go southpaw.'”
“You’d have at least half of it being prepared with some type of southpaw sparring”
Fury briefly switched to southpaw in his 2022 victory over Dilian Whyte, although George Groves reckons he’d be playing with fire doing the same thing against Usyk.
The former WBA 168lbs champ said: “That would be bravery of Tyson Fury to go into the hardest fight [of his career] and go, ‘I’m gonna fight it [as a] southpaw’.
“Because he’s not as good as a southpaw as he is as an orthodox [fighter]. But he’s a decent southpaw.”
Groves’ former Brit rival Carl Froch, however, said: “He might just do that for periods.
“And he might start off as [a] southpaw just to try to throw a spanner into the works and then switch back. Mix it up.”
It’s unclear if Fury will fight the biggest of his career as a leftie, although Moore reckons doing so will pay dividends for the WBC heavyweight king.
He said: “If you can switch when someone is going to the left and you switch to orthodox and as soon as they go to the right, you switch [to] southpaw, you’re cutting the ring off automatically.
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“So it would be a good tactic, if he can do it.”
Watch Fury v Usyk, ‘Ring of Fire’ live from Riyadh on TNT Sports Box Office on Saturday 18 May. For more info visit: tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
