Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk believes his fighter’s ‘secret weapon’ is his ‘mind’ and points to a potential weakness ahead of his fight against Tyson Fury.
Fury and Usyk are due to fight in Saudi Arabia on 18 May, after the initial bout in February was forced to be postponed when British fighter Fury sustained a cut during sparring while training.
The fight will be the first time an undisputed heavyweight champion will be crowned since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
“I do hope that Tyson will wear his helmet, his protective gear this time and not injure his eyebrow or whatever he could injure, and that this time the fight on May 18 will go the way it should have gone in December and then in February,” Krassyuk told Sky Sports.
“It’s the fight of a lifetime. The whole world is waiting for it. Let’s pray for Tyson and expect that the guy enters the ring.”
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren claimed back in February that Usyk ‘crybabies’ to the referee, but any notion of that has been dismissed by the Ukrainian’s team. Warren went on to pick out low body shots as a potential weakness for Fury to exploit in the fight later this month.
“When a man gets hit in the area below the naval, he normally suffers,” added Krassyuk. “That’s what happened in the Dubois fight… and it’s normal not just for Usyk but for every man to suffer from low blows. That’s the reason why these blows are illegal in boxing and forbidden, being strictly supervised by the referee.”
Krassyuk added: “I can tell you about the secret weapon of Usyk’s, the only problem is it’s not a secret,” he said.
“His weapon is his mind, his heart, his experience and boxing skills. And the main thing about him that is different from Tyson Fury is his discipline. That is what makes him great and it is his toughest weapon.”
