By Scott Gilfoid: Glenn McCrory of Sky Sports thinks that without his brother Vitali Klitschko as someone that he can lean on as the other heavyweight champion in the division, IBF/IBO/WBO/WBA heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will be vulnerable. McCrory isn’t sure whether Wladimir can even finish 2014 as a champion. Not surprisingly, McCrory thinks that Tyson Fury will capture a world title in 2014 by beating the WBC belt holder,
“That was a massive psychological barrier for the brothers’ opponents to overcome,” McCrory said to Sky Sports. “Now, though, the immovable object that was the Klitschko brothers has gone and it’s just Wladimir flying solo, so I think his rivals will take confidence from that...I can conceivably see Tyson becoming world champion this year.”
At any rate, you get the point. McCrory sees Wladimir as being mentally vulnerable without Vitali, and he thinks Fury is the guy to move in and grab one of the straps. I think what McCrory is saying is laughable. If the 37-year-old Wladimir needed Vitali to hold his hand as the heavyweight champion then why didn’t Wladimir fall apart between 2004-2008 when Vitali wasn’t fighting and had retired from boxing?
Wladimir held the IBF heavyweight title during two of the years [2006-2008] that Vitali was retired. And if Wladimir needed Vitali to help boost him up, then why didn’t Wladimir crumble in 2013? The last time I checked, Vitali didn’t fight at all in 2013. If Wladimir needed him around then surely he should have fallen apart mentally last year, right?
As for McCrory’s vision thing about Fury winning a world title, I don’t see that happening in 2014. If Fury fights Bermane Stiverne or Chris Arreola for the the WBC heavyweight title in 2014, he’ll be knocked out. And, of course, if Fury fights Wladmir this year, he’ll be knocked out by him too. He doesn’t match up with Wladmir, as he’s too slow, weak and upright to beat the 6’6″ Wladimir.
I do think Fury can be a good British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion and possibly a decent EBU champion if he can beat Dereck Chisora in their rematch in June. But in no way do I see Fury as a world champion caliber fighter. He’s missing the main ingredients – speed, power, defense and skills – to become a world champion and hold down the belt. I think Fury can position himself to where one of these days a sanctioning body gives him a belt outside of the ring like they sometimes do, but I can’t see Fury earning a belt inside the ring by beating a good heavyweight contender or champion.
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