No cuts for Tyson: Fury’s beard remains for Usyk

Tyson Fury will be able to fight with his long beard this Saturday night against unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) has opted not to shave and has been given the green light to compete with the lumberjack-looking beard.

Usyk’s team complained about his beard and wanted the 36-year-old Fury to shave, but he has no intention of doing so. His reason for having a long beard is unclear, but some believe it helps cushion his chin and protect him from being hurt again by Usyk’s powerful left hand.

Why The Beard Now?

Fans believe that a large beard provides additional protection against punches to the chin, where Fury was injured in the first fight. If this is why Fury chose to keep his beard, it shows a desperate man willing to do anything to win.

A clean-shaven Fury was badly rocked in the ninth round by a left from Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) in their first fight on May 18 and was saved by the referee, who gave him a count eight o’clock .

“He’s got a beard, and there’s been a lot of fighters over the years who’ve fought with beards, and that’s about it,” Fury’s promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports Boxing.

Fury’s decision to grow a long mountain man beard suggests he is completely desperate to win, looking for every possible angle to get the W on Saturday night against his former conqueror Usyk. The Gypsy King needs to win in order to get the trilogy match against Usyk that Turki Alalshikh wants to happen.

Is Fury trying to curry favor with Turki by having a beard? I wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of the Gypsy King’s reasons for wearing a beard, along with chin protection.

Desperate fury

There is a lot of money for Fury if he can get the third fight with Oleksandr, in addition to the likely two expected to happen against Anthony Joshua.

We don’t really know why Fury has chosen to fight with a beard, as he has treated the rematch with Usyk differently than his previous fights. He claims he hasn’t spoken to his wife, Paris, in three months since his training camp began. If true, this suggests that Fury is desperate to win and is going all out to get the win.

Fury seems to have gone through an accelerated aging process since his loss, and it’s clear that the loss has taken a toll on him mentally. People age under stress, and Fury feels like 10 years have passed since his first fight with Oleksandr.

Given how desperate Fury is to win, hopefully he doesn’t resort to missing Usyk on Saturday night. Current and former fighters have come out of the woodwork to recommend that Fury run into Usyk to help him win.