Oleksandr Usyk was defeated by Artur Beterbiev once, and Beterbiev thinks Tyson Fury will do the same when the two square off for the undisputed heavyweight championship bout is scheduled for February 17 in Saudi Arabia.
Both Fury(34-0-1, 24KOs) from England and Usyk(21-0, 14KOs) a 36-year old Ukrainian boxer are undefeated. Fury last competed in August, winning a split-second decision over former mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou, while Usyk triumphed against Daniel Dubois.
The WBC, WBO, and IBF light-heavyweight champion Beterbiev was defeated by Usyk in two thrilling battles at 91 kg during the 2011 amateur world championships and the 2012 Olympics. He is the first to note, though, that he also defeated Usyk in their amateur match when they were both light-heavyweights. He dismissed those earlier defeats.
“That time my weight was only 83kgs. I’ve never been 90kgs in a fight. We had another fight too in the amateurs. There was a match [in Russia], I had fight with him there at 81kgs and I beat him on the first day [of the tournament],” said Beterbiev in media reports.
“You know Oleksandr Usyk, he does his job very well. What I can say, good for him,” he explained.
To say that is a bit of an understatement. Usyk has been a standout professional fighter. He defeated Anthony Joshua to capture the WBO, IBF, and WBA heavyweight championships. In February, he will take on WBC champion Tyson Fury for the opportunity to become the undisputed champion of two weights.
“I said when they fight, Oleksandr Usyk with Joshua, I said I think Joshua is going to win. I’m more for Joshua because he’s a real heavyweight. He’s not a cruiserweight,” said Beterbiev.
“There’s a big difference. I say who is preparing well, will win. Now too, I think Tyson Fury is going to win. But who’s preparing well, he’s going to win,” he added.
This next weekend, Beterbiev, who has been unstoppable in the ring as a professional boxer, will defend his unified light-heavyweight titles against Callum Smith of Liverpool.
If he prevails, he might think about moving up in weight in the future given his tremendous punching power, or he might decide to stay at 175 pounds and focus on his own undisputed match against Dmitry Bivol.
