Veteran journalist and MMA media icon Ariel Helwani has shared his official prediction for the upcoming boxing fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

We are only a few days away from finally witnessing the most important boxing fight in the heavyweight division for over two decades: Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk goes down this weekend from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

As predictions and previews begin to ramp up, combat sports fans can turn to veteran journalist Ariel Helwani for a fascinating insight into the upcoming super-fight and whilst we rarely get an official prediction from the media icon, Helwani’s argued that we’re in for a shock on Saturday evening.

Ariel Helwani weighs in and shares prediction for Fury vs Usyk super-fight

Speaking on the DAZN Boxing Roundtable, veteran combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani explained how out of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, there’s far more pressure on the broad shoulders of the British superstar:

“I think that there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on Tyson Fury’s shoulders, way more than Oleksandr Usyk for several reasons; his last couple of fights weren’t against the best, they weren’t the type of fights that people wanted to see – then he fights Francis [Ngannou] and does not look good.”

Helwani claimed that the post-fight reaction to Fury being dropped by the former UFC heavyweight champion has resulted in the upcoming super-fight as being “almost an indictment [or] a referendum on his career and legacy.”

“Tyson Fury has to answer a lot of questions, [whereas] there aren’t as many questions on Usyk’s shoulders going into this fight,” he explained, adding how despite never losing a professional bout, Fury is already at risk of tainting his outstanding legacy.

“Given how he looked and how he fought and how he performed against Francis, if he slips on a banana peel [against Usyk], I don’t think it’s fair but people are going to rewrite the whole story of his reign and career.”

Yet despite the lackluster performance against Ngannou in his last outing and the pressure of becoming undisputed heavyweight champion, Helwani ultimately still sided with ‘The Gypsy King’ to get his hand raised in Riyadh on Saturday, May 18.

“I’m going with Tyson Fury; I say he shocks a lot of people, and he turns back the clock so to speak and reminds everyone that he’s the man.”

Helwani explains the ‘one thing’ that he’s worried about for Usyk

Both the boxing and MMA communities are decidedly split on who they think is going to win on May 18, with Helwani also pointing to one key aspect that could sway the contest in Fury’s favor – the fact that the bout has already been postponed once before.

“The one thing I’m worried about for him in this fight, is he was so close to getting this fight [in February], he was so locked in. I spoke to him the day after it got canceled and he looked like a bull with steam coming out of his ears, he was so mad.”

Helwani, who has been around top-level fighters for several decades, explained how when a fight gets postponed at the last minute, “you have to take your foot off the gas and then ramp up [again]” when the match is re-booked.

“If Tyson is taking it seriously, he’s just going through a nice little training camp now, he had to get better maybe he can go full force. But for a guy who was that revved and ready to go, sometimes you peak too early and that comes back to hurt you.”

“He looked so ready, he looked so mad, and I’m wondering if you add three months of a training camp, did he have it in him to switch it off and go through it all over again?”

That being said, should Usyk prove Helwani wrong and get his hand raised in Riyadh, he likely enters the conversation for all-time GOAT status in the heavyweight division:

“People have been slow to give him those props but now it’s finally coming, I think he goes down as one of the greatest ever if he does this – if he does this and then the rematch as well, and he wins that fight considering the resume, I think there’s a very strong case to be made.”

Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury goes down this Saturday, live from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.