Lennox Lewis believes Tyson Fury will dispense with the showboating and get down to business when he steps into the ring for his world heavyweight title rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh on Saturday night.
Former champion Lewis proved himself the master of comeback wins during his glittering career as he swiftly avenged his two defeats to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman.
And Lewis is convinced that Fury will have learned the hard way after he tasted defeat for the first time against the Ukrainian in their first fight in the same city in May.
Lewis said: “I think he will be coming back to avenge his loss. I’ve been in that position and when you’re a competitor and a champion like Tyson Fury, he’s going to be looking at it and saying, I need to do something different.
“I feel he could be more serious in the first few rounds. I think the showboating and all that type of thing, he has to push that out of the way and be more focused on the win.”
The stakes are high for Fury, with domestic rival Daniel Dubois, who defends his IBF belt against Joseph Parker on the undercard, eyeing a money-spinning showdown and Anthony Joshua still targeting a long-awaited shot.
But Lewis believes the obvious prize for Fury if he can quickly bounce back from his initial defeat is a second potential trilogy having dispatched Deontay Wilder twice earlier in his title reign.
“I want to see a trilogy,” added Lewis. “Tyson is good at trilogies and he’s boxed them before, so he knows what they’re all about. Right now he’s one down and he needs to step up his game.
“My era was a great era, and now this era is really making its mark. This is the era of Usyk moving up in weight, doing it scientifically and actually winning. He told Tyson he was going to be there with him every second, and he was.
Usyk has proven he's a winner and he hasn't lost yet, so I can't go against Usyk. All I can say is that this is going to be a different fight
“Usyk has proven he’s a winner and he hasn’t lost yet, so I can’t go against Usyk. All I can say is that this is going to be a different fight.
“I believe Fury is a lot better prepared than he was for the first fight. He’s ready and he knows what’s going to happen in the ring. He’s got to go out there and prove to the world that he deserves to win the fight.”
:: Watch Usyk v Fury Reignited 2 on TNT Sports Box Office. Coverage starts from 4pm on Saturday 21st December. Find out how you can watch at tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice
