Ricky Hatton has highlighted a weakness he sees in Oleksandr Usyk ahead of his fight with Tyson Fury.
The top two heavyweight boxers on the planet will battle it out for the WBO, WBA, WBC, and IBF titles at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Opinions are split ahead of the first four-belt fight in heavyweight history.
However, Hatton is backing his pal Fury, who he helped slimmed down before his comeback in 2018, to get the job done this weekend.
“I think [Fury] might be able to stop him later on,” the British boxing legend told talkBOXING ahead of the biggest fight of 2024.
“Tyson will use his height, use his reach early doors and try to outbox him, which I think he will do.
“Usyk will have his moments because he’s a good technician himself as well, but I think bit by bit [Fury will break him down].”
Usyk stopped Daniel Dubois in nine rounds last time out, but much of the post-fight talk was about a controversial low blow in the fifth frame.
The unified heavyweight champion dropped to the floor and was given four minutes to recover from what some people, including Dubois and his promoter Frank Warren, claimed was a legitimate body shot.
Dubois saw his post-fight appeal come to nothing, but ‘The Hitman’, who was famous for his body shot KO’s, thinks Fury should target Usyk’s midsection.
Hatton added: “I’d stay on the body.”
“I think there’s a big question mark on if Usyk is a bit weak to the body with that Dubois situation.
“There has been a few fights where he has been hit around the ribs and he hasn’t took to it too well.
“If Tyson can put a bit more concentration that he normally would to the body, then as he gets to the halfway stage impose his size on him, I think he could get a stoppage down the home straight.
What Is An Undisputed World Champion?
In boxing, an undisputed world champion is someone who wins all of the four major world title belts in their division – WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO.
Fury currently has the WBC while Usyk holds the WBA, IBF and WBO. Therefore, the winner will hold all four belts as undisputed king.
The last man to hold all the belts in the division was Lennox Lewis when he beat Evander Holyfield to add his WBA and IBF titles to the WBC belt before what is now known as the ‘four-belt era’ with the WBO being recognised from 2004.
News Summary:
- Ricky Hatton advises Tyson Fury to target ‘weak’ Oleksandr Usyk area as he makes KO prediction
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.