"He was winning the battle but he was losing the war" - Veteran boxing analyst Teddy Atlas breaks down Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2

Famed boxing coach and analyst Teddy Atlas broke down the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. In their Dec. 21 fight, Usyk defeated Fury by unanimous decision, retaining his heavyweight titles. Usyk's precision and movement proved decisive against Fury, who was off to a good start with an effective use of jab.

In a recent conversation with Radio Rahim of Seconds Out, Atlas pointed out that Usyk's relentless pressure made Fury fatigue in the later rounds of their first fight, leading him to alter the strategy for the rematch:

"This time, [Fury] said, 'I might lose.' Obviously, he was thinking he was going to win. But he said, 'I might lose, but I ain't gonna lose by being boiled down. I'm gonna set my feet. I'm not gonna let this guy just come in and be the boss and boil me down. I'm going to set my feet, I'm going to use my wing span, I'm going to control that range, and I'm going to make it hard for him to earn his way in.'"

He added:

"He was winning the early rounds the first time. But he was losing the war. He was winning the battle, but he was losing the war. Because the other guy knew what the war was... That, 'I'm going to get to him late, that I'm going to wear him down.' So at least give Tyson the credit where he knew he wasn't going to get beat that way."

Check out Teddy Atlas' comments below (1:55):

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Teddy Atlas explains how Oleksandr Usyk worked around Tyson Fury's game plan to win the fight

In the aforementioned interaction with Seconds Out, Teddy Atlas shed light on the strategy Oleksandr Usyk employed to counter Tyson Fury's strategy to stop him from pressing forward. Atlas explained:

"He adapts. He still finds a way to pressure him. He goes to the body. They both went to the body but Usyk was more consistent going to the body all night long. And while Fury was throwing one and two at a time, did you notice the other guy was throwing five or six? I wasn't a great student and maths wasn't one of my top subjects but I can figure out - five and six beats one and two." [3:18]

Usyk also defeated Fury in their first fight on May 18 to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. He is the only man to beat 'The Gypsy King' in a professional boxing match. Although Fury and his team expressed dissatisfaction at the judging in their rematch, both fighters demonstrated mutual respect for one another.