'Maybe it's taken its toll' – Dillian Whyte gives tough prediction for ex-rival Tyson Fury's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk

07/08/2024 07:49 AM

Dillian Whyte has suggested Tyson Fury’s past exploits may have finally caught up with him.

The ‘Gypsy King’ suffered his first career defeat against Usyk in their undisputed showdown in May, and was even nearly stopped in the ninth round.

He will get an immediate shot at redemption in their sequel on December 21, but it is expected to be an uphill battle for the Briton.

Whyte, who came up short in a domestic clash with Fury in April 2022, believes the Briton has a chance but only if he hasn’t lost a yard from previous fights.

"It's heavyweight boxing so anything is possible and you can't write Fury off,” he told iFL TV.

“But maybe these hard fights he's had have taken a toll on him, you never know.

“He's human and he's had a lot of hard fights, a lot of knockdowns and maybe it's taken a toll on him and maybe he's not even bothered or motivated anymore.

“If he trains right he's big so stands a chance but Usyk's self confidence will be through the roof.

“And before he thought he could outbox him but now he knows he can hurt him so it'll be a much more difficult task [for Fury] this time around."

Fury has been involved in some brutal wars including three outings against notorious power puncher Deontay Wilder.

In his last fight before his defeat to Usyk, Fury had looked a shadow of himself and was knocked down by ex-UFC star Francis Ngannou last October.

He went on to win, but the boxing world had began to question if he had what it takes to beat Usyk.

But he performed much better on the whole, and was confident he’d done enough to have his hand raised.

The 35-year-old even claimed he found it an easy night, and had himself ahead on his own scorecard.

Fury said on his Furocity YouTube Channel: “I’ve watched the fight back lots of times and still got the same answer – I thought I won the fight.

“Usyk knows he didn’t beat me. I thought I boxed the head right off him for most of the rounds.

“He landed good punch in round eight and busted my nose, in round nine he had a 10-8 round, and I gave him round ten.

“It was actually a lot easier than I thought it’d be, the Usyk fight.

“People said he’s a hard man to hit, I was lighting him up with four-punch combinations and laughing at him.

“It was like I was in there with a local amateur boxer.

“I was enjoying it too much, messing around and paid the ultimate price in round nine."