Roy Jones Jr. insists that if Oleksandr Usyk wants to defeat Tyson Fury, he must make him appreciate his might.
The Ukrainian slickster is not known for his powerful punches, especially at heavyweight, where he is on the smaller end of the range.
Jones Jr believes Usyk will need to be ‘explosive’ against Fury.
At cruiserweight, he had a couple stunning stoppages, the most notable being his savage knockout of Tony Bellew in 2018.
However, after stepping up in weight, the majority of his fights have gone the distance, with the exception of Chazz Witherspoon withdrawing on his stool and Daniel Dubois being counted out on his knee.
Instead, Usyk has won the majority of his fights by completely outboxing his opponents with his superior speed and basics.
However, Jones Jr believes this will not be enough to overcome Fury when they face off for the undisputed heavyweight title on May 18.
“Usyk is a great tactician, but he’s not very explosive,” Jones Jr told Darren Bent and Troy Deeney on talkSPORT Drive on Thursday afternoon.
“If he was explosive, that would be an issue. When you’re little and coming up against the big guys, you must bring explosives to the ring or they will not respect you.
“I don’t care what they say; if he can’t find those explosives before the battle, he won’t beat Tyson Fury.
“Tyson Fury didn’t take Ngannou seriously and he didn’t look the way he should have against Ngannou but he’s still Tyson Fury and he’s definitely going to take Usyk seriously.”
Fury will have a considerable height and weight advantage on fight night.
‘The Gypsy King’ stands 6 feet 9 inches and weighs roughly 270 pounds for his fights.
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Meanwhile, Usyk is 6 feet 3 inches tall and will most likely be 50 pounds lighter.
Although he is the bigger man, Fury, who is frequently faster and more agile than his opponents, may find himself at a disadvantage.
Steve Cunningham, the last former cruiserweight world champion he faced, weighed in at 210 pounds for their contest in 2013 and caused Fury all kinds of issues, even dropping him in the second round.
Fury eventually defeated Cunningham, but it demonstrates that smaller boxers may pose a challenge to be the lineal heavyweight champion.
