Tyson Fury vows to be “more focused” during his unified heavyweight championship rematch with Oleksandr Usyk. Specifically, the boxing betting odds title bout is set for December 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fury, 36, played to the crowd and taunted Usyk multiple times during the first half of their May fight. Correlate that Usyk won via split decision. The pivotal moment of the bout came in Round 9 when Ukraine’s Usyk unloaded 14 unanswered punches that resulted in a knockdown and a 10-8 round that was the difference on the scorecards.
IBO, WBC, WBO World Heavyweight Title Bout Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury
| Date and Time: | Saturday, December 21, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Location: | Kingdom Arena, Riadh |
| TV Coverage: | DAZN |
SBG Odds
| Boxer | Odds |
|---|---|
| Oleksandr Usyk | -182 |
| Tyson Fury | +148 |
Certainly, Tyson Fury is seeking sports betting redemption for losing a fight he believes that he should have won.
“I did a lot of showboating, a lot of messing around — more than I’ve ever done before, actually — against supposedly my toughest opponent. I did a lot of f—ing around, and it ended up costing me.”
Consider that England’s Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) was ahead on all three cards heading into the eighth round. And Fury believes he deserved the decision after 12 rounds, too. He said he has rewatched the fight literally “hundreds of times,” but he also knows the fight was close enough.
Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) is ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer and No. 1 heavyweight. The Olympic gold medalist was also the undisputed Boxing odds champion at cruiserweight. Accordingly, that was before he collected all four titles with his win over Fury.
Of course, Fury is no stranger to return bouts. “The Gypsy King” fought Derek Chisora three times. As a result, he got a decision win followed by two TKO victories. Of course, his more noteworthy trilogy was against Deontay Wilder. Wilder floored Fury twice during their 2018 meeting, which was ruled a draw. However, Fury battered Wilder en route to a seventh-round TKO in the rematch. Meanwhile, the third fight was more competitive. To illuminate, Fury was knocked down twice in Round 4 but scored a spectacular KO of Wilder in Round 11.
“I’ve been in this position before,” Fury said. “… I don’t dwell on the past too much. I just get on with my job and train for this next fight and put in a good performance and get the victory back, and then hopefully, we’ll do a rematch again, and that’ll be a trilogy. I’ve had three trilogies before.”
Now, Fury has a great shot at Fight of the Year honors one more time as his May fight with Oleksandr Usyk is the front-runner for the award. The first fight also took place in Riyadh. Subsequently, Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, wanted to ensure the rematch happened immediately. In turn, Alalshikh, like Fury, believed it was important to deliver the rematch without any interim fights for a multitude of reasons. Namely, injuries or an upset loss were to be avoided at all costs.
Fury vs. Usyk SBG Free Pick
Tyson Fury is one of the most popular names on the board in boxing. And that is factored into the price. In like manner, Alexsandr Usyk is a favorite among sharps for his reliable betting value. Usyk is the more stable and consistent fighter in this matchup.
Fury vs. Usyk SBG Free Pick: Alexandr Usyk.