Fury is set to fight Ukrainian Usyk on the 17th February 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and it seems that dad John is pretty concerned about what could happen to his son. In a straight blockbuster, it’s the first time two undefeated fighters will contest the undisputed heavyweight championship since 1999, but it seems that John isn’t feeling confident, which is very unusual for him and the Fury family.

John Fury told Metro Sport: “The style I am seeing is no good. The style Tyson has right now, he wouldn’t have beaten Wladimir Klitschko with that. Oleksandr Usyk is a tricky man, you have to be at your best to beat him. The style he’s got now won’t do the trick.”

Fury’s most recent fight came against former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight Francis Ngannou. In his first professional boxing fight, Ngannou was able to knock Tyson down in the third round and only narrowly lost to one of the premium boxers of the last decade in a contentious points decision.

This earned Ngannou a number 10 ranking by the WBC and, despite being 37 years old, gives him plenty of options for big fights moving forward, whether in boxing or mixed martial arts. Who would say no to seeing Ngannou fight Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder?

For Tyson, this was not according to the script as most would have expected him to handily beat the boxing rookie and the fact he didn’t has left some doubts and hurt his reputation. Usyk was present at ringside for the fight along with a host of celebrities, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo, and Conor McGregor.

The two faced off in the ring to build anticipation for the fight that was originally scheduled for the 23rd of December, but was pushed back by The Gypsy King’s camp.

The IBF, WBA (super), and WBO heavyweight champion earned his belts by taking them from Brit Anthony Joshua in 2021 via unanimous decision and then defended the honours by beating Joshua again, via split decision, in the 2022 rematch.

John Fury, talking about his son, continued: “For my money, his last three fights, I have seen a bit of decline. Not a decline in ability, but a decline in strength, power, and physical condition. You have to address it. He didn’t look himself out in Saudi. He didn’t look right.”

Of his last three fights, John Fury refers to a sixth-round knockout win versus Dillian Whyte, a 10th-round win via knockout against Derek Chisora, and then his win against Ngannou.

His son has publicly dealt with weight-gain issues in the past, during a two-and-a-half-year break from boxing in which he was suffering from mental health problems, but has rarely been questioned about his boxing abilities and ring IQ. Tyson will look to prove any naysayers wrong, including his own father, and sure up his legacy if he is able to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since British compatriot Lennox Lewis.