Sport

Tyson Fury tipped for lowest fight weight in nine years as Oleksandr Usyk takes aim at ‘skinny’ frame

Spoilers, the big Manc boxer is hardly 'skinny', but he does look noticeably different.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 16th May 2024

Tyson Fury is being tipped to come in at his lowest weight in almost a decade ahead of his highly anticipated fight against Oleksandr Usyk this weekend.

After trying to book the bout for what feels like an eternity, Fury is finally set to put his WBC belt up against the Ukrainian’s unified WBO, WBA and IBF titles to decide the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and Usyk‘s mind games have not turned to taking aim at ‘The Gyspy King’s weight loss.

The 35-year-old boxer revealed his trimmed-down physique this week as he walked out on stage in the event village in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, with a notably flatter stomach, less weight in the face and a leaner build overall.

Visible mass has been shifted, that much is clear, and his challenger was quick to react when the first glimpse of his fight weight was revealed, with many fans now expecting Tyson to turn up at his lightest weight in nine years.

Tyson Fury shows off his weight loss ahead of the title fight against Usyk this weekend.

As can be heard on the live DAZN broadcast, the 37-year-old unified fighter can be heard saying that he’s decreased his size “because he’s nervous; when you’re nervous, you lose weight or gain it as [we’ve seen] in the past”.

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The Wythenshawe-born boxer came in at his lowest-ever weight of 245.5lbs (111kg) against Vinny Maddalone back in July 2012 – quite the contrast when compared to his most recent matches against Chisora and Whyte (around 260lbs) and when he clocked in at 277.7lbs for the Ngannou fight.

While it’s unlikely he’ll have been able to strip enough to reach his leanest professional fight weight seen over a decade ago, he did come in manager 247lbs (112kg) when he became the heavyweight champion of the world against Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.

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Usyk went on to dub him “skinny belly” to the media in reference to his “greedy” comments made earlier this year regarding arguments over the fight purse, which is one of the main reasons it’s taken so long to get the fight booked, but did watch him intensely during his public workout on Wednesday.

Make no mistake, he’s still a VERY big man.

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Tyson obviously brushed off the suggestion that he’s dropped too much weight, quipping, “Skinny? I’m 19 stone” and, as father John Fury has been hyping up for the last month or so, he believes fight fans are about to see the “best Tyson yet”.

Although many might have assumed that size was going to be a key thing that might give the Manc fighter the edge over Usyk, this drop in weight does suggest that his team are going for a different.

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The hope, presumably, is that a leaner, more agile Tyson might see him move quicker and simply try to directly outbox his opponent, but it remains to be seen how he’ll approach the bout. We’ll only get a clearer idea when the two heavyweights arrive at the weigh-in around 7pm on Friday.

Fury vs Usyk finally go toe-to-toe this Saturday night, though the actual fight isn’t due to start until the early hours of Sunday morning – who are you backing and will the weight drop prove to be a masterstroke or a mistake?

It’s one of the biggest boxing matches in a decade and it could all hinge on some very small margins.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — TNT Sports (via IG)/DAZN/paul62_2017 (via Flickr)

Sport

Man City Women put an end to Chelsea’s unbeaten run as they take Champions League lead

Danny Jones Danny Jones Man City Women end Chelsea winning streak

Manchester City Women have taken a crucial lead in the Champions League quarter-final after making it past Chelsea to finally end their lengthy unbeaten run.

The Blues took on the WSL leaders for the second time amidst a series of four consecutive meetings across all competitions this month, having only just lost to Sonia Bompastor’s side in the League Cup Final this past weekend.

Missing out on the trophy could have seen City dip their heads but returning interim head coach Nick Cushing made sure that his team responded by bouncing back.

Now taking a 2-0 lead into the second leg of the quarters, there is still the chance of winning silverware this season – though there is definitely still work to be done.

Man City Women managed to end the East Londoners’ winning streak thanks to a brace from substitute Vivianne Miedema, who came on in the second half and managed to open the scoring by sniffing out a rebound off the bar just before the hour mark.

The turn and cross in from Mary Fowler – a shining light in City’s season thus far who created plenty of big chances and nearly grabbed another assist – was sublime but the instinct to swallow up the loose ball proved to be crucial in giving the home team the edge all night.

In truth, the initial header from Laia Aleixandri was strong and kept out by an impressive save, but Miedema’s willingness to cover great ground meant she was in the right place at the right time.

You could say it was a similar story for her second.

Notching her second of the night and 31st goal overall in just 35 UWCL games, a simple side-step to change lanes as she ran into the box

Speaking after the match, the 28-year-old forward said the result is “a massive confidence boost for us going into the next two [fixtures against Chelsea]”, insisting that the fight shown in the first half half game them the belief to say “we can actually win today.”

As for Cushing, he told the club’s media shortly afterwards: “I was confident if she got chances, she’d score, we just have to create those moments for her. Tonight, we saw many and she thinks she should’ve had a hat-trick!”

City Women play Chelsea for a third time this weekend, once again hosting them at the Joie Stadium only this time in the league, before playing that decisive second leg down in the capital next Thursday, 27 March. Will a two-goal advantage be enough? We’ll have to wait and see.

You can watch the highlights down below:

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Featured Images — DAZN

Sport

Sir Gareth Southgate says young men ‘need better role models’ – and more of them

Danny Jones Danny Jones Gareth Southgate says young men need better male role models

Ex-footballer and England manager Sir Gareth Southgate has called on contemporary society to do better when it comes to young men, insisting that boys today need real role models.

In fact, not to put words in his mouth, but he isn’t just calling out for more of them; more precisely, he believes they need better ones than some of the figures who have found a following in recent years.

Speaking in one of his first public addresses since being knighted in the 2025 New Year’s Honours list and one of a scarce few since stepping down as the Three Lions boss, Southgate gave a lengthy speech as part of the BBC’s annual ‘Richard Dimbleby Lecture’.

The former Crystal Palace, Middlesborough and Aston Villa defender touched on a number of topics in his discussion, including the troubling rise of “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers, whose sole drive is for their own gain” and are finding increasing popularity on social media.

Southgate has strong opinions on the current archetype of ‘role models’ that young men are gravitating towards.

Southgate went on to express the crucial nature of “identity, connection and culture” in contemporary society, insisting that current values are drifting off course.

He went on to state that because of the swirling questions surrounding masculinity, “young men end up withdrawing, reluctant to talk or express their emotions […] They spend more time online searching for direction and are falling into unhealthy alternatives like gaming, gambling and pornography.”

The 54-year-old also referred to a recent and alarming report by the Centre for Social Justice entitled ‘Lost Boys’, which claims this current generation of young men are “in crisis”.

Southgate also believes that “if we make life too easy for young boys now, we will inevitably make life harder when they grow up to be young men”, arguing that we are at risk of creating a culture where they fear failure so much that “they fail to try, rather than try and fail.”

Drawing from his own experience as a player and his famous penalty miss in Euro ’96, as well as his multiple attempts at winning a major tournament as the national team coach, he reflected on how these experiences made him who he is today – experiences he navigated through thanks to role models.

Put more simply, he suggested that we need to return focus to the importance of teachers, sports coaches, youth groups and ‘proper’/traditional role models, rather than simply allowing the next generation of young men to resort to poor examples online.

The timing of Southgate’s speech hasn’t been lost on large swathes of the British public, in particular, in light of the hit Netflix drama, Adolescence.

Adolescence has quickly become the most-watched show on the streaming platform within less than a week of its global release and deals in plenty of intense subject matter.

Revolving around the story of a young boy accused of a violent crime towards a young girl, the four-part series touches on incel culture, the growing ‘manosphere’ digital community, controversial figures like Andrew Tate and more.

You can listen to Southgate’s lecture on young men and the importance of role models in full HERE.

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Featured Images — soccer.ru (via Wikimedia Commons)/BBC (screenshot)

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