"The referee will stop the fight out of pity for him": boxing legend predicts the outcome of the Usyk–Fury rematch

Former absolute world middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins expressed confidence in the victory of Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) over Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) in the rematch. The legendary American boxer noted that the fight between the Ukrainian and the British in December will not go the full distance of 12 rounds.

Hopkins said this in an interview with the YouTube channel Fight Hub TV. The 59-year-old former championship belt holder in two weight categories emphasized that the referee would be forced to stop the fight between Usyk and Fury early, as the Briton simply could not cope with the Ukrainian's skills.

"The smaller guy has more heart and talent. Usyk is not the biggest heavyweight, which I think helps him. I believe that Tyson is simply not able to cope with Usyk's boxing IQ. My prediction is an early victory for Usyk in the rematch. And the fight will be stopped not because of some brutal knockout, but the referee will stop it out of pity for Fury," Hopkins said.

On October 23, Usyk and Fury had their first duel of looks before the second fight. The Ukrainian appeared in an unusual way, changing his image. In addition, he forced his opponent to take an unusual step to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Earlier it became known that Tyson wants to organize a trilogy with Oleksandr to go down in boxing history. The Briton also accused the Ukrainian of disrupting the timing of the rematch.

In the first fight, Oleksandr defeated Tyson by split decision – 114:113, 113:114, 115:112 – and became the absolute world heavyweight champion.

Our compatriot also shared his expectations for the second fight with Fury and responded to accusations of cheating during the May 18 fight. In addition, the Ukrainian told what he learned from this fight.

The legendary Volodymyr Klychko shared his expectations for the rematch between Usyk and Fury. And ex-champion Amir Khan disagreed with the forecasts for the fighters' second fight.

In turn, Russian boxing coach Andrei Ivichuk called Tyson the winner of the upcoming rematch with Oleksandr. And the Ukrainian named the only boxer he is interested in fighting after the second fight with the Briton.

In addition, Anthony Joshua answered the question of who he would like to see win the rematch between Usyk and Fury. After that, he named the winner of the rematch. Tyson himself voiced his motivation for the second fight against our compatriot.

Fury also responded to Usyk's team representatives when they compared him to dictator Vladimir Putin.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the former coach of the Ukrainian boxing team Mykhailo Zavyalov said that Tyson Fury will put his career on the line in a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk. The Briton himself noted that he does not believe in his victory on points in the second fight with the Ukrainian. In turn, Usyk revealed the details of his preparation for the fight.

In addition, it became known who Alexander plans to fight after the fight with Tyson. The legendary Mike Tyson gave his prediction for the fight.

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