(Photo Credits to: Rich Graessle/Main Events) By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (20-0, 14 KO’s) weighed in on Friday for his fight tomorrow night against 36-year-old Steve Cunningham (25-5, 12 KO’s) at the Madison Square Garden Theater, in New York, New York, USA.
This is a an IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator for the #2 Spot. Although it’s now questionable whether Fury – if he wins – will bother moving forward towards a fight against IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko because it’ll require for Fury to take on unbeaten #1 IBF Kubrat Pulev to earn the mandatory spot and there’s already talk that Fury will look to take the safer route by going after the winner of the Chris Arreola vs. Bermane Stiverne fight to try and become the mandatory challenger to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, who could be retiring this year.
Fury weighed in at 254 pounds today, whereas Cunningham came in 44 pounds lighter at 210 lbs. 44 pounds is a HUGE weight advantage for the 6’9” Fury and it’s going to be tough for Cunningham to make up both the 7 inches in height and 41 pounds in weight. The weight advantage isn’t as big a deal as you might think, though, because Fury isn’t nearly as solid as Cunningham.
Just in looking at the torso and the waist of Fury, I’d say that he’s carrying around an extra 20 pounds of useless flab that won’t help him. He still has around a 20 pound weight advantage in actual muscle to go along with his huge height advantage, but it’s nearly as impressive as it would be if the 44 pound weight advantage was pure muscle.
I don’t think Fury will ever be able to get rid of the stubborn flab that hangs off his midsection. I think he could go on a starvation diet and that flab would be the last thing to go after he had lost a lot of valuable muscle. That’s too bad because having that lard hanging off his waist can’t be good for him.
I think Cunningham is going to give Fury a lot of problems with his excellent jab, good power and fast hands. He’s a lot more mobile than Fury and I can see him cutting the Irish fighter up and swelling his face with his shots.
Fury hasn’t been hit too much during his career because his promoter has been really careful to match him against weak opposition to ensure that he stays unbeaten. Cunningham is going to be his first fight of his career where he’s facing a guy that can punch back instead of just hang around acting as a punching bag.
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