Source: Alamy Stock Photo
In our exclusive interview, the former world champion admits he’d consider replacing Mike Tyson against Jake Paul and is prepared to go into camp.
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Would you step in for Mike Tyson against Jake Paul?
I’m kind of thinking about that. I might try and get into shape in case that happens. I never thought about doing it before, but with the situation of the fight being postponed, I think that’s a great idea and I’ll be ready. If the fight doesn’t happen then the ideal guy to substitute in place of Mike Tyson to fight Jake Paul is something I have been thinking about. If the fight is out there then yes.
How would you beat Jake Paul?
I haven’t thought about that because, me being me, I only thing I think about is being the best I can be, then I figure it out in the ring. There was obviously the Tommy Fury thing, and then the other day somebody asked me whether I would fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in an exhibition, and that’s crazy. I would jump on it, but now that this thing has come up, it makes sense to get into shape for Jake Paul and it would be one of the biggest fights of this decade.
What did you make of Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk?
It was a close fight, a fight that was going either way. Usyk is smart enough to follow a gameplan, he’s good at that. I thought Usyk had a great plan. Tyson fought more, but Usyk pushed the pace and a big man should never let a small man push you back. If a big man can’t push a small man back, then it’s a big win for the smaller man.
When Fury fought Wladimir Klitschko, he fought at his own pace and pushed Klitschko back, and he did what he wanted to do. Usyk said: “No, you’re going to fight at my pace.”
The fatigue was from Usyk making Fury fight his fight. Fury wasn’t fatigued through fatigue, he was fatigued because he was forced to fight at a pace he didn’t want to fight at.
Can Tyson Fury win the rematch?
I don’t really think so. It could happen, but in that fight Usyk found out that he can hurt Tyson Fury. He knew that coming in, but he’s found out now that he can hurt Fury for sure. The smaller man now knows he can hurt the bigger man.
Usyk is favourite for the rematch and now here is the thing – Tyson Fury is a very smart guy and is really good at making adjustments, but Usyk, in my humble opinion, comes through him again. Now that Usyk knows he can hurt and beat Fury, he could now underestimate him in the rematch. But we all know Fury has been knocked down seven times.
Does Tyson Fury need to go for an early KO to beat Oleksandr Usyk?
No, I don’t think so. When have we ever known Tyson Fury to come out and knock somebody out? He fought Deontay Wilder and he got back up, but Usyk is a whole different animal. Anthony Joshua hit him hard and couldn’t knock him out, so how is Fury going to knock him out? It’s kind of unrealistic.
Joshua couldn’t knock out Usyk, but he knocked out Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury couldn’t, so how is he going to knock somebody out that Joshua couldn’t knock out?
Is Anthony Joshua now favourite to beat Tyson Fury?
It was always the case that Joshua could knock Fury out, but here’s the problem that people don’t realise – Fury has been knocked down seven times, but he’s also got back up seven times. Even the hardest hitter in the heavyweight division, Deontay Wilder, knocked him down twice and he got up both times. What makes you think AJ will knock him down and he doesn’t get up? I don’t see that. I can see him knocking him down, but I don’t know how he keeps him down.
