Oleksander Usyk says he has a “secret” plan for his rematch with Tyson Fury this Saturday night. He states that he and his team watched his fight with Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) last May and devised a game plan against him.

Usyk may not need a secret plan to defeat Fury because he looks pretty worn out this week. The Gypsy King Fury looks like he’s been torturing himself during training camp, and he may have gone overboard with his preparation. It affected Fury mentally, losing for the first time.

The unified heavyweight champion Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) neutralized Fury’s mauling tactics that he’d been using effectively in many of his recent fights in the last four years since adding SugarHill Steward as his trainer. That strategy involves holding and leaning.

It failed to work against Usyk and Francis Ngannou, the matches Fury struggled in. As he aged, Fury became too dependent on mauling to win his fights.

“I’m going to knock him out. I’m going to give Turki what I promised him in May. I’ll cook rabbit in his kitchen,” said Tyson Fury during today’s Grand Arrivals for his fight against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night. “And the new.”

Usyk: “I Have a Secret” for Fury

“It’ll be a great fight. I feel I’ll win,” said Usyk. “The same again because it’s my plan. Maybe we have a new [plan], because I worked. We know a little bit because we watched the fight. I have a new secret.”

Fury looked physically worn down today during the Grand Arrivals, which suggests he may have taken off too much weight in a hurry. He didn’t have this appearance in the first fight seven months again, and you have to wonder if he went overboard in training camp.

They were calling Fury’s camp “Prison,” and he reportedly trained with Moses Itauma, among many other hard punchers. Did they take something out of Fury, leaving the gaunt, aged giant that we’ve seen this week? If Fury loses the rematch, he’ll have a good excuse to tell fans, blaming it on overdoing it in training camp.

A second defeat for Fury would spoil Turki Alalshikh’s plans for a trilogy match between them. Turki told Fury this week to “Do the job” against Usyk, which is easier said than done. If you saw the ninth round of the first fight, it’s a near impossible task for Fury to win without referee interference to prevent Usyk from knocking him out.

Usyk says he has a secret plan for Saturday night 🤔👀#Usyk2Fury | #RiyadhSeason | Dec 21, live on DAZN | Click link in bio to buy | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/Zo3Cb2LAN8

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 17, 2024