Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury will meet in their much anticipated heavyweight title rematch on December 21 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the Ukrainian attempts to defend his Ring Magazine, WBC, WBO, and WBA titles against The Ring's No. 1 rated contender.

Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) beat Fury (34-1-1) via split decision on May 18 to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years. Fury started the fight strong against the undersized Usyk but faded late after he was knocked down in the ninth round. Usyk landed 170 of 407 of his punches while Fury countered with 157 of 496 of his own. Two judges awarded Usyk the fight via scores 115-112 and 114-113 while a third judge had it 114-113 in favor of Fury.

To get a glimpse of how the rematch will unfold, The Ring met with former heavyweight contender Johnathon Banks – who also was a head coach to Wladimir Klitschko and Gennadiy Golovkin and currently trains Chris Eubank Jr. – to get his input, analysis, and final prediction.

“It's one of the hardest things to answer because I've known Fury’s trainer SugarHill Steward almost my entire life from our days at the Kronk Gym in Detroit. I know he's going to work his butt off to make sure Fury shows Usyk something different than what he showed in the previous fight. I think that's going to be the juggernaut.

“Will Usyk prepare for the exact same Fury that he prepared for the last fight? Or will he be preparing for a different type of Fury?

“Knowing who Fury's coach is, I think Usyk needs to be preparing for a different type of Fury. And do not assume he's going to come in the same way he did the last fight. Fury came with something different in the second Deontay Wilder fight, and that's when he had SugarHill with him. I think whatever SugarHill is working on is going to be a difference-maker in the rematch. That’s why it’s going to be a hard fight. They are going to come back different than what they were before.

“Fury is a good boxer. That's what he does. Usyk is going up against a guy that’s much bigger than him and he could walk down. So let's see what strategy they come up with to get the victory.

“I think the second fight is going to be harder for both guys. I can't even give a prediction. It's hard to say. I want to give Fury the edge because of his size, athleticism, and boxing ability. But at the same time, in no way, shape, or form do I underestimate Usyk. He's a hell of a talent and a great champion.

“Usyk is more underrated than every other heavyweight. He's the smallest and that's why he looks like the weakest link. It's easy to underestimate skills when you look at size. They did that to Evander Holyfield, too, and we saw what he did. When Usyk went against Anthony Joshua, they thought it was going to be a whitewash. After the Fury fight, he got more respect.

“I've been following Usyk’s career ever since I met him in the Olympics through the Klitschkos, and it's been awesome. At 38, he's young for a heavyweight. That's not old. He's still reaching his prime. He can spread his wings for another five years if he wants to, as long as he's staying healthy.

“At the end of the day, any fighter can be beaten. I wouldn't say Usyk can't be beaten, but they haven't found the pieces to the puzzle yet.”