Tyson Fury “If I can’t beat Wladimir who is old in boxing terms at 39, I wont carry on”

By Erhan Bora - 07/16/2015 - Comments

fury555By Erhan Bora: Anyone who is familiar with Tyson Fury’s (24-0, 18 KOs) social media knows to take what he says with a pinch of salt. Although he claims to be a man of his word in most of his interviews and has tweeted that he will quit the boxing game if he fails to overcome IBF, WBO, WBA world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs). Tyson has many critics within the sport, even some of the most popular YouTubers frequently criticize him, and has many doubters among the fans. What chance does Tyson Fury have in beating the favorite who himself is aiming to beat Joe Louis’ title defense record.

In reviewing his track record, Fury has yet to face a real top contender although the same could be said for Wladimir. In his lost track record he has arguably fought the best around but the division had been going through an awful dry spell, and the only real good heavyweight I picked out was Alexander Povetkin, who Wladimir dealt with in some style.

It was an extremely boring fight but Wladimir did what he needed to out box the smaller Russian in Moscow. David Haye is also another noticeable name on his resume but he is arguably a very good cruiserweight and a questionable heavyweight. Although what Fury possesses is a versatility in his approach, with the ability to switch from Orthodox to Southpaw which has troubled many opponents, but it is an approach many fighters possess such as lightweight Jose Zepeda and eight-division champ Manny Pacquiao among others.

It has not made Tyson necessarily that much of an awkward fighter, and he seems to struggle when being backed up if he look at the Cunningham clash and parts of the first Dereck Chisora fight. Will Wladimir look to push back Fury? In the Pulev and Jennings fights he did not really push back the opponents but looked to pick off shots and score well with the jab and hook. If Wlad carries on trying to out box Fury, i feel this is perfect for Fury or his best shot in scoring a win. Although with all these factors considered we must recognize that the fight is taking place in Germany. For British fighters it’s a place where you do not want to venture, as Martin Murray was arguably robbed by the judges in his middleweight world title fight against home boy Felix Sturm. To a lesser extent Paul Smith, bringing in that saying “You have to knock out your opponent in Germany to get a draw”. Fury does have a good amount of boxing skills and a good height advantage over Wladimir and it’ll be interesting to see both fighters’ approach.

There is a massive potential for the fight to be extremely boring, and inevitably end in a points decision. Tyson Fury does have good footwork, boxing skills and inside fighting ability. His power and chin have been questioned and tested in the past, but we have seen fighters exceed expectations beforehand. Fury will inevitably test Wladimir’s patience and mental toughness in the buildup which will most definitely be a lot more interesting than the fight but it is what happens in the ring that matters.

If Tyson lives up to his namesake he will be able to carry on his career, if not he may have to revisit his tweet outlining his intentions to retire if he loses. Fury has surprisingly faced many a top ten contenders in Chisora (who was ranked number one after four losses with the WBO), Steve Cunningham, and Christian Hammer. In the greater scheme of thing these three are cannon fodder for the real contenders such as Vyacheslav Glazkov, Alexander Povetkin, WBC champion Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker and perhaps the likes of Lucas Browne.

The division requires some real final eliminators after seeing Mike Perez vs Povetkin and Ruslan Chagaev vs. Francesco Pianeta both last one round, and the likes of Shannon Briggs diminish the credibility of the division. His antics make a mockery as he faced sub-par opposition to somehow get a ranking and then proceed to lobby a fighter for an undeserved title shot. Former contenders such as Odlanier Solis and Chris Arreola who turn up to fight incredibly out of shape also adds to the farce which is the heavyweight division, the latter has been mentioned as a potential opponent for Wilder in the future.

Antonio Tarver similarly to Shannon Briggs has returned to the sport at the ripe old age of 47, and has a fight lined up with the big cruiserweight and former Fury opponent Steve Cunningham. Referring back to the title, 39 is evidently not old for a boxer, well not in the heavyweight division, but what Fury can do is prove that the division is as vibrant as any other and that the days of Wladimir defending against sub-par contenders are over. It is an incredibly hard task, but the new gen needs to break through and eradicate some of these problems mentioned. For the boxing fans, I hope the division’s titles remain in the hands of two fighters if not become unified.



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