There is the opportunity for Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk to be crowned undisputed heavyweight champion of the world when the pair face off in the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia at 11.30pm on Saturday night.
Fury is the division’s biggest draw and the Gypsy King will bring the WBC belt to the ring on Saturday night. The Morecambe man is unbeaten in his 35 professional contests, and it’s worth remembering that the Brit won the WBA, WBO and IBF titles when beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
Usyk now holds the WBA, WBO and IBF titles, having twice beaten Anthony Joshua to secure those crowns, and the former four-belt cruiserweight champion can become a two-weight undisputed king with victory at the Kingdom Arena.
- OLEKSANDR USYK TO BEAT TYSON FURY
- AGIT KABAYEL TO BEAT FRANK SANCHEZ
Gypsy King Set To Be Dethroned
Fury has yet to taste defeat in a 35-fight professional career, with the one blemish on his record coming in a 2018 contest with Deontay Wilder. That was the first of a trilogy of bouts between the Gypsy King and the Bronze Bomber and Fury probably deserved to get the verdict in that fight.
The 35-year-old went on to stop Wilder in 2020 and 2021, and those victories are hailed as the standout form in the heavyweight division. The Brit certainly produced two excellent performances to down the previously unbeaten WBC champion, but it’s been nearly three years since the latest of those wins and the form has hardly been franked.
Wilder has fought only twice since those defeats to Fury. One contest ended in a first-round stoppage victory over the badly conditioned and trained Robert Helenius, and the Bronze Bomber was then taken apart by Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia last year.
It seems as though those gruelling bouts may have left their mark on the Alabama banger, and Fury may not have been immune to the effects of those ageing contests.
Since those fights, the 35-year-old has beaten Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora in what were glorified exhibition contests, and the Gypsy King made extremely hard work of getting past boxing debutant Francis Ngannou in what was a novelty contest.
The Morecambe man was floored four times by the Bronze Bomber, and while there should be something left in the tank at the age of 35, Fury hasn’t led a dedicated and disciplined life outside of the ring.
Ballooning in weight and inactivity have been features of Fury’s career and it could be that the combination of those factors could see the Gypsy King’s reign come to a premature end.
Usyk has to give up size and weight to the towering Brit, but the Ukrainian is one of the most gifted, skilled and intelligent fighters on the planet, and height and weight were no barrier to him twice beating Joshua.
AJ has to be rated as the third-best heavyweight around and the Watford man was completely outclassed by the movement, skill and footwork of the 37-year-old.
Usyk’s experience in the heavyweight division is limited to just five fights, but the Simferopol boxer has twice destroyed Joshua, as well as making light work of Daniel Dubois and Derek Chisora.
The former undisputed cruiserweight champion is an elite-level fighter, and while Fury’s size and height may be a new phenomenon for the Ukrainian to face, the 37-year-old has dealt with bigger punchers and more skilled fighters in the past.
Time may have caught up with Fury, and Usyk looks a good bet to dethrone the Gypsy King on Saturday night.
Kabayel Can Join The Big Time
There is plenty of interest on the Saudi undercard, with the undefeated Joe Cordina defending his IBF super-featherweight title when he faces Anthony Cacace. Jai Opetaia and Mairis Briedis clash for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title, but there are two short-priced favourites in those contests, and the best bet comes in the heavyweight showdown between Agit Kabayel and Frank Sanchez.
Kabayel is a curious contender who looked to have the world at his feet when dominating Chisora and winning the European heavyweight title back in 2017.
Various management issues, the Covid pandemic and fight cancellations slowed the 31-year-old’s career to walking pace after that success over Del Boy, and the German-born boxer has stepped into the ring on only seven occasions since that victory.
However, Kabayel burst back into the limelight with a stunning career-best performance to stop the previously undefeated and highly-rated Arslanbek Makhmudov in December.
The Bochum boxer had Makhmudov down three times in the Saudi contest and a flurry of body shots proved a potent weapon for Kabayel.
Sanchez has won all of his 24 career bouts and the Cuban Flash is seen as a world-level contender. However, there is little substance to the 31-year-old’s fight card and victories over Efe Ajagba, Christian Hammer and Junior Fa are the standout names on Sanchez’s record.
Kabayel is certainly in a different league to those fighters, and while Sanchez is unexposed, he is also unproven, and the prices appear to overrate the chances of the Cuban Flash.
Kabayel looked on course to be a serious contender in the heavyweight division when beating Chisora seven years ago, and although it has taken some time for the German-born boxer to manoeuvre his way into world title contention, the 31-year-old looks an excellent bet to beat Sanchez in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night and strengthen his position in the WBC rankings.
