"I suffered a couple of knockdowns": Briedis reveals what will happen in Usyk-Fury rematch

Former world heavyweight champion Mairis Briedis is confident that Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) will defeat Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) in a rematch. The Latvian boxer, who put up a stubborn fight against the Ukrainian in 2018 and lost by a majority decision, admired the skills of our compatriot.

Briedis said this in an interview with the RUS TVNET YouTube channel. The former International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt holder emphasized that Usyk demonstrated incredible resilience in the super-heavyweight division when he "suffered a couple of standing knockdowns" in his first fight against Fury on May 18.

"I think Usyk will win against Fury again. In fact, I thought it was 50-50 in the first fight. I was surprised. It was interesting how he showed his patience, because it was very hard for him. I think he suffered a couple of standing knockdowns there. He stood up and showed that he could take a punch to the head from a heavyweight. That's why Usyk showed his character, his skill - he showed everything. Try to approach such a giant. It wasn't comfortable, but he showed the strongest skills a man should have - character, patience, knowledge," said Briedis, who announced his retirement on August 19.

We remind you that in the first fight, Usyk defeated Fury by split decision - 114:113, 113:114, 115:112 - and became the absolute world heavyweight champion.

A month after the fight , the Ukrainian was forced to give up the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt, for which Anthony Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) will fight on September 21.

Later it became known that the IBF left Usyk no choice. This situation angered the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Dana White. The Ukrainian himself commented on his decision. Fury and Usyk will rematch on December 21. The fantastic prize money for the second fight is already known.

Our compatriot shared his expectations from the second fight with Tyson and responded to the accusations of cheating during the fight with Fury on May 18. In addition, Oleksandr commented on the injury he received in the fight.

The Ukrainian announced his radical plan to continue his career after the rematch with Tyson. Vusyk named the most difficult moment of the fight with the Briton. Our boxer also spoke frankly about his opponent. Coach Sergey Lapin told us what he expects from his fighter' s rematch with the Briton.

In addition, Russian Alexander Povetkin attributed the success of our compatriot to Russia. And former world champion Carl Froch called Usyk's title, which will be played by Joshua and Dubois, a paper title.

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