Fury or Usyk to win? Dennis Hobson and Naseem Hamed have their say

Can the giant Gypsy King overcome Ukraine's super-skilled heavyweight, despite being beaten by him at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh in May?

Sheffield's most dynamic ever boxer Naseem Hamed seems to be edging towards Usyk, saying: "I think it's going to be very hard for Tyson.

"Personally, I would love to see him win that, that would make my year for him to win that fight. I think it's going to be hard, I think it's going to be very hard."

Naz summed up: "The IQ of Mr Usyk is something else."

Today we canvassed the thoughts of Sheffield promoter Dennis Hobson's view, as part of his regular question-and-answer column with The Star.

So, Dennis, who wins in the Fury v Usyk rematch?

"It’s interesting because Usyk has got the upper hand mentally because of what happened in the first fight, where Tyson thought he had it won.

"He switched off a bit because he thought he had him where he wanted him but Usyk makes you fight at a fast pace.

"Tyson didn’t realise he’d emptied his tank and I think it was more exhaustion.

"He didn’t have the engine to come back like he did against Wilder, and unless he’s addressed that he could struggle again.

"Usyk will know in his mind he can hurt him but at the same time I think if you can get the best version of Fury, and I don’t know if it’s still in him, but if you can get the best version of Fury against the best version of Usyk, then I still believe that Tyson can win.

"So, I’m just hoping that he’s still got it left in him.

"I think Usyk will take some stopping but I think Tyson can win on points.

"I’m going to go with Fury, I want him to win because he’s British, even though I love Usyk."

Looking back at 2024, what have been the boxing highlights for you?

"Well, we’ve put some cracking shows on at Fight Academy and Fightzone, and in partnership with talkSPORT.

"We did our show in Texas, where we had fighters from the USA versus the UK, and our team captains of Spencer Oliver and Roy Jones Jr.

"That was a new creative concept like when we did the carpark shows during Covid and although we haven’t got the resources that the Saudis have, I don’t think anybody does it better!

"You’ll see one or two kids come through and develop through these tournaments, it’s the making of some fighters and we’ll be doing another UK vs USA show in 2025.

"Another highlight was Daniel Dubois beating Anthony Joshua and winning the heavyweight world title.

"I thought if Daniel turned up and believed in himself, he’ll knock Joshua out, but if he gets intimidated by the more experienced Joshua then he could end up getting stopped himself.

"But he came of age and that was a highlight.

"I’ve met Daniel and I’m good friends with Don Charles so I was really over the moon for them and I think hopefully they will be the future of UK heavyweight boxing.

And the low points?

"Boxing in in our country is absolutely flourishing, which is great but I just think it’s a shame that so many of the big fights have been in Saudi Arabia, chasing the money.

"If I got offered a deal to do some shows in Saudi then of course I would, but there’d be a purpose and an agenda for me.

"I’d want to strengthen what we’re doing back in the UK, that’s the reason I’d do it, not just chasing the money for the sake of money.

"We’ve got to remember the tradition of boxing, here and in the States.

"Some of the fights are brilliant but they’d be a lot better at Madison Square Garden, Las Vegas or at Wembley.

"The Saudi shows remind me of when we were watching football during Covid behind closed doors - the atmosphere wasn’t the same and the football wasn’t the same either.

"For me, the boxing is lacking something over there because you’ve got so many people on the front row who, while the boxing is on, they’re on their mobile phones!

"It’s not out-and-out boxing fans and the shows are lacking a bit of something. So, in terms of a low point, I love the fights but I don’t like the atmosphere of the Saudi shows, which has been a shame for boxing."

*Look out for more from Dennis Hobson's corner soon.