Anthony Crolla: Usyk vs Fury 2 Preview, Prediction and Podcast Discussion, Featuring Dominic McGuinness
Our resident Boxing expert Anthony Crolla is back to run through the entire Usyk vs Fury 2 Reignited card. View the podcast episode feat. Dominic McGuinness below, then scroll further down the page to read Crolla's weekly column.
Crolla's Column: The Big Boys are Back
I cannot wait to board my flight to Riyadh on Friday. It’ll be a quick-fire trip to the Kingdom where I’m working for BBC Five Live, but I feel blessed that I’ll be ringside for the rematch – Usyk v Fury reignited. What a fight and what a night!
There are intriguing match-ups all through the card but a few jump out at you. There are three heavyweight fights on the bill, and all are really intriguing. First up is UK v Australia and Moses Itauma against Demsey McKean.
It’s a genuine fight and certainly the toughest fight so far for Moses. This is aggressive matchmaking so early in the 19-year-old’s career, but with a talent like his, he needs the challenges now. I’ve been on the Moses Itauma hype train for a long time, well before he turned professional. There’s a lot to like about him. He’s so laid back but so confident.
It is unlikely he’ll break Mike Tyson’s record of being the youngest heavyweight world champion at 20 because of politics. There’s too much of a backlog of fighters who are ahead of him in terms of experience who will be looking to fight for titles. Obviously, Usyk held all four belts, but the IBF was taken off him and that’s how it goes in this crazy sport. But, if they did let Moses loose and throw him into world title fights next year, then I wouldn’t be shocked if he broke the record. I think he is that good.
Demsey is a good fighter, an Olympian, but I think Itauma wins comfortably, and he gets the stoppage. It’s a step-up he’s more than ready for.
Serhii Bohachuk v Ishmael Davis is interesting with bronchitis forcing out Israil Madrimov so giving the Brit a chance to come in and cause an upset. Bohachuk has been around a good while and fought some of the best. He gave Virgil Ortiz a tough night and Brian Mendezo, who he beat on points. For Ishmael, this is a great opportunity coming in at late notice as Bohachuk can get caught, but I do fancy the Ukrainian to win on points.
I was really looking forward to the Dennis McCann v Peter McGrail fight – more so than even the main event! Obviously, it can’t happen now with McCann returning an adverse finding in his pre-fight test with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. It’s depressing, but we’ll have to see how that all pans out, and I’m glad Peter will still get to fight with late replacement Rhys Edwards jumping at the chance to fight on this massive card.
There’s a great opportunity at featherweight for both Isaac Lowe and Lee McGregor – it’s winner takes all really. I’m not disrespecting Isaac, he is game as anything, he’s a good mate of Tyson Fury’s and has been given a big chance, but I think Lee will be a bit too polished for him. It’s a great fight for the Scot to get everything back on track. When he started his pro career, he looked like a certain world champion in the making, but I think making bantamweight took a lot out of him. I’ll never know how he made that weight! This should be a very entertaining fight and I’m going to go with McGregor to win on points.
One fight on the card that you know will get plenty of attention is Johnny Fisher in against Dave Allen. These are two seriously popular heavyweights at opposite ends of their careers. Dave is a bit of a folk hero of British boxing and I’m glad he’s getting this kind of opportunity. He’s great fun, but he does look in good shape and you certainly want him to take it seriously because I really think he can ask Johnny some questions.
Dave was disappointed in his performance against Frazer Clarke, and he has had a good camp for this fight. Johnny is improving all the time, but he hasn’t had a big test yet. On paper, Dave Allen is by far his toughest test. I am going with Johnny, it’s just whether he catches up with Dave late on? He probably does, so I’m going to go for a Fisher stoppage win after round six.
As for the main event – aagh, it’s so hard! I think you have to make Usyk the favourite after what went on in the first fight. Tyson, arguably, should’ve been stopped in the ninth round when he was in a world of trouble, but he came back into it. It was a great heavyweight fight. I may be contradicting myself a bit because Tyson looked like he had the fight won by the halfway stage when he was hurting Usyk. Did he switch off? Yes, he did, but Usyk always finds a way to win. The biggest strength he has is how he adapts. He has had a few tough fights, but he can adapt and find a way.
So here we go. Despite what I’ve just said about Usyk, I think Tyson wins on points. It’s possibly going to be controversial, so we’ll be left with talk of the trilogy fight – and that’s no bad thing!
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