Tyson Fury: Love him or loathe him?

By Bri Slater - 07/11/2013 - Comments

By Bri Slater: It seems Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) is polarizing opinions amongst boxing fans. Whenever I read an article about the unbeaten giant Mancunian heavyweight, I am taken aback by some of the generic vitriol directed in his direction.

I personally find Fury a breath of fresh air in boxing. He has a great character, oozes confidence and despite some of the obvious flaws in his game, he is unbeaten. I have watched Fury develop from early in his career, and his progress has been astounding. He has improved across the board, and continues to develop at a steady rate, because he, as opposed to David Price has been matched against challenging opponents relative to his own level of development throughout his career.

I kind of understand the negativity coming from the American side of the Fury debate, as 99% of generic American boxing fans know nothing of Fury, aside from his matchup with Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham. There is so much made about Fury getting dropped by Cunningham, but I firmly believe that almost any heavyweight would’ve been floored by that right hand from Cunningham because when he connected with that shot, it had every last ounce of Cunningham’s weight (220llbs/ 100kgs) behind it, the shot landed flush, and the timing was perfect. Fury ‘boxed’ in a manner against Cunningham that was tantamount to chaos, but he won, away from home, against an American with a TV network behind him and proved he had heart.

Fury is an underrated boxer, he defeated Chisora in a better manner than Vitali Klitschko managed, and although David Haye KO’d Chisora, we shouldn’t compare Vitali’s and Tyson’s encounters against Chisora’s with Haye’s because Haye fights to a completely different style to the two big men. When Fury boxes to his strengths, he is comparable to the Klitsckos, except he is not as well-drilled or methodical. However, Fury has faster hand speed than both of the Klitschkos, and has a much more unpredictable style.

Going into his next fight against David ‘The Haymaker’ Haye, Fury has already been written off, particularly by some writers on this website who are famed for their predictions manifesting consistently incorrectly (not naming names of course). There is a blueprint to beat David Haye, Wlad showed that to the world, the question is, how do you beat Fury? He showed he can box on the inside incredibly well on numerous occasions, and that is a rarity for such a big fella. I am highly unsure on who’ll win this matchup, but if I was pressed to choose a winner, I would choose Fury on the basis that he has all the physical characteristics to put on a Wlad-esque shut out of Haye. Of course, he is far too undisciplined to maintain that for 12 rounds and will go toe to toe with Haye, and that is why Fury is a breath of fresh air. He loves to fight, he loves the mind games, he’s got a huge ego and he knows how to bring the haters out of the woodwork.

You’ll see David Haye playing Mr. Nice guy in the run-up to this fight, and that will create a great mix of personalities to get the paying public polarized even more… Fans and enthusiasts take the game of selling a fight too seriously in boxing. The Mr. Nice guy David Haye was the devil in the build up to the Wlad fight, it’s all about raising publicity and selling PPV and tickets.

Love him or loathe him, Tyson Fury is undefeated, and in my opinion is one of the star attractions in not just the heavyweight division, but boxing. Sure, he has to improve, and he may lose on his journey to the top, but I would put money on him being a world champion in the next 3 years.



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