“Mark my words”: Former champion boxer predicts what’s next for Lancashire's Tyson Fury

Heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury, 38, last week was defeated by the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk for the second time in his career.

Back in May, Usyk inflicted Morecambe based Fury’s first ever defeat and their reunion on December 21 didn’t quite offer Fury the revenge he wanted with the judges scoring unanimously in Usyk’s favour.

Now, former british professional boxer Johnny Nelson MBE, who remains the longest reigning cruiserweight world champion of all time, spoke to Action Network about what he made of the fight, of Tyson’s weight and what’s next for him.

Take a look at what he has to say below:

What did you make of the result and the scorecards?

Jonny: “In hindsight, the scorecards were closer to being correct than we were (scoring it live). The fight was close, but I thought the scorecards were alright given a round or so. Throughout the fight, it was pretty even (at the start), both guys were trying to find a way but Tyson found himself reacting instead of being the activator, and all the way through, he was reactive. Tyson went into the fight with intent, and I said I love this Tyson Fury, his head is on it, no bull****, he’s on it to get the job done.

“He went in with the intent but not with execution. Once he got a shot off, he didn’t execute and overthought it by thinking ‘I’ll wait a bit’ and spent so much time waiting for the shots to go. Tyson must’ve thrown six instinctive shots throughout the fight and the rest (of the shots), he had to think about it. The instinctive shots were the most successful because, with instinct, you can’t read and even in the first fight, instinct caught Usyk with the uppercut. But this fight, was a mix of a few things.

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“This Tyson that went in with intent, you only have one chance to make a first impression. This Tyson should’ve shown up the first time because the execution would’ve been with him. But now he has been in the ring with Oleksandr Usyk before, Tyson was thinking twice about certain things thinking ‘should I or shouldn’t I’.

“Oleksandr Usyk was the ultimate professional throughout. He deserved the win. How would you feel if you were Usyk and you boxed Tyson Fury the first time and then you see him falling over outside the pub on his face on the floor, p***** up on the street? I’m not saying that is wrong or right but if I was an athlete and I knew I lived the life and I knew my opponent was doing that in between fights, my confidence is like ‘you don’t deserve to be here, you shouldn’t even walk in my shoes’. The mind games build up a long time before you go into the ring.

“Usyk was the initiator, and Tyson was the reactor, so if you are reacting and you miss, your initiator has got two or three shots ahead of you every time. Usyk was prepared to work a lot more and mix it, whereas Tyson at times, was falling back on his heels. His legs have gone, they aren’t what they were, and he was falling back on his heels. Out of the two, when they were getting hit Tyson looked more vulnerable than Usyk, without a doubt.”

What did you make of Tyson being heavier?

Johnny: “It was about the execution because the weight wasn’t detrimental to him. Tyson came in with his coat and everything on, but he was actually weighing at around 19st 7lbs. It was the execution of the job he had.

And what is next for Tyson?

Jonny said: “I see the headlines of Anthony Joshua. I know Frank (Warren) and himself said they won the fight but they know they didn’t win the fight. They’re talking about the AJ fight and that’s a big fight and you would love to see that fight. Like AJ, Tyson’s head is going to be up his a*** and will be feeling heartbroken and gutted. If you truly believe you are the best amongst everybody else and you are world class but then get a reality check, it takes you a long time to get over it. Tyson is a very wealthy man and the drug of boxing; we all need it. But when that confidence is shattered, what is the motivation? It’s very hard to live and breathe in the cash.

“The weekend won’t make any difference to them instantly, it will just make a difference for their generations coming through. Now, it’s getting that motivation to say, ‘I can do this’. Maybe Tyson and AJ can lift themselves for that one fight together but mark my words, this time next year they will both be retired. They will be out of the game.”