Fury – Usyk II – “My suffering is him”: how revenge magnifies the Noble Art

You can call it rematch or revenge. Never mind. Whatever the term, these fights built the legend of boxing. Over the decades, the Noble Art has offered so many duels which have left an indelible mark in the history of this sport. Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling. Jake LaMotta vs. Sugar Ray Robinson. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran. Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield. The list is not exhaustive. It is especially prestigious while waiting for its next line. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will write it on Saturday in Riyadh.

What has happened in the last seven months? What sensations may have inhabited the two boxers since their first meeting in the same ring at the Kingdom Arena. The Ukrainian inflicted the very first defeat of his career on the Briton, by split decision, to become the first unified heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis. The Briton signed this feat in 1999 during a memorable rematch won against Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas, eight months after a fight which ended in a controversial draw in New York.

Lewis only had that in mind. That’s almost an understatement. He didn’t think about anything else at any time. It was the only way for him to prepare for the reunion with a boxer in the ring. “Every day I woke up training for this person, preparing for them, thinking about them all day. I took this very seriouslyhe said last month in the 5 Live Boxing podcast. Wake up every day to his photo. Stick it to the wall. And think about them all the time. It’s a mental war you’re engaged in.”

Not all boxers necessarily hang up the photo of this opponent they are going to meet. But they all have it in mind, like a vital need to mentalize the multiple and indescribable aspects of revenge. “You have to have hatred when you enter the ring, well not necessarily hatred, it’s something elseexplains John Dovi, former French amateur champion turned coach, and consultant on Eurosport during the Paris 2024 Games. It’s another word. If you have hatred, you are not capable of fighting, of implementing your tactics because you are blinded. It’s something else. The photo, you personify suffering. You say to yourself ‘it’s him, my suffering is him. He has to pay‘”.

But there is more. Between two men who have already gone blow for blow in a ring, there is a unique relationship at the time of reunion. “When you get in the ring against someone, you create a bondsummarizes John Dovi. Something for life, rare and undeniable, that we cannot explain. There is a fluid, a form of respect, humility, recognition… He is an adversary, but in truth, he is a partner. We don’t understand it right away because we have to punch ourselves in the face, but when it’s over and we put it all into perspective, this incredible feeling… That’s the beauty of this sport. .”

Respect is an integral part of the noble art. It doesn’t stop you from being competitive. Quite the contrary. “Revenges, rematches, trilogies, they are always stories of men, of dignity, of obsessiondescribes Jean-Philippe Lustyk, TV commentator for several decades and author of Great book of boxing*. When it comes down to very little, and especially when you’re undefeated, it’s obsessive. When Ali was beaten for the first time by Frazier in 1971, that changed everything! The only thing he has in mind is to take his revenge and he will take it two years later in a North American championship. A first defeat always has serious consequences for boxers who thought they were invincible.“

This is another exciting aspect of revenge. The psychological advantage for the one who won the first opus is relative. “It brings a little confidence, it’s undeniableexplains John Dovi. But this is precisely the particularity of our sport, this ability to question ourselves all the time. You can face an opponent once, twice, three times… it will never be the same fight. Some things don’t change. It will have the same size, the same characteristics, the same speed. But we must not fall for this ease. On the other hand, he will have worked and he will be vengeful. When we lose a fight, we thirst for revenge, to wash away the insult. So the second fight will not be the same. It will be more intense, stronger.”

This is precisely what everyone is waiting for. And the trailer, where each of the two boxers has the impression of seeing the other everywhere they go, offers a spectacular translation of what revenge represents in general, and for Fury and Usyk in particular. “It’s the nature of this sportconcludes Jean-Philippe Lustyk. This is the story of duels that happened two or three times. It’s fascinating on a sporting and media level, when the boxers are close to each other or when there is a clash of styles. That’s the key. When you watch the trailer… It’s obsessive. The trailer is awesome. It’s at the level of the fight, at the height of the event. It’s giant.“We’re salivating in advance.

*The great book of boxing, by Jean-Philippe Lustyk. New expanded edition. Editions Marabout