No cuts for Tyson: Fury’s beard remains for Usyk

Tyson Fury will be allowed to fight with his long beard this Saturday night against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) has opted not to shave and has been given the green light to compete with a lumberjack-like beard.

Usyk’s team reportedly complained about his beard and wanted Fury, 36, to shave it off, but he has no intention of doing so. His rationale for having a long beard is unclear, but some believe it helps cushion his chin and protects him from being hurt again by Usyk’s powerful left hand.

Why the beard now?

Fans believe that a large beard provides additional protection against blows to the chin, where Fury was injured in the first fight. If that’s the reason Fury decided to keep his beard, it gives an idea of ​​a desperate man willing to do anything to win.

A clean-shaven Fury was badly rocked in the ninth round by a left hand from Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) in their first fight on May 18 and saved by the referee, who gave him a last-minute count of eight. .

“He’s got a beard, and there have been a lot of fighters over the years who have fought with a beard, and that’s it,” Fury’s promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports Boxing.

Fury’s decision to grow a long Highlander beard suggests he is absolutely desperate to win, looking for every possible angle to claim victory on Saturday night against his former conqueror Usyk. The Gypsy King must win to get the trilogy match against Usyk that Turki Alalshikh wants to happen.

Is Fury trying to curry favor with Turki by having a beard? I wouldn’t be surprised if that was one of the Gypsy King’s reasons for sporting a beard, along with protection for his chin.

desperate fury

There is a lot of money for Fury if he can land the third fight with Oleksandr, in addition to the two likely ones expected to happen against Anthony Joshua.

We don’t really know why Fury chose to fight with a beard, as he treated the rematch with Usyk differently than his previous fights. He claims he hasn’t spoken to his wife, Paris, in three months since training camp began. If true, this suggests that Fury is desperate to win and is doing everything he can to achieve victory.

It seems that Fury has gone through an accelerated aging process since his defeat, and it is clear that the defeat has hit him hard mentally. People age in times of stress and Fury seems to have passed 10 years since his first fight with Oleksandr.

Given how desperate Fury is to win, hopefully he won’t resort to fouling Usyk on Saturday night. Current and former fighters have come out of the woodwork to recommend that Fury punch Usyk to help him win.