Tyson Fury is the No.1 heavyweight on the planet, says Peter F.

By Boxing News - 06/21/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: Trainer Peter Fury totally disagrees with Matchroom Sport promoter Barry Hearn, who said on Monday that he sees his fighter IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) as the best heavyweight on the planet. Peter thinks Hearn is way off, but he understands it’s just his own personal opinion and not reality.

Peter says the 6’9” Fury is the No.1 fighter on the planet, and points to his victory last November over former longtime champion Wladimir Klitschko as proof of that. That win over the 40-year-old Wladimir is enough to make Peter believe that Fury is top dog in the world.

I hate to be the one that drizzles over the Peter and Hearn’s vision thing, but I don’t see either Fury or Joshua as the No.1 fighter in the planet. I think Deontay Wilder is the best by far followed by Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz. I see Fury and Joshua down below those guys and fighters like Joseph Parker, who would likely punch big holes in the outer shell of those guys when he’s finally given the chance.

“It goes without saying that Tyson is world No 1. He deserves to be where he is because he’s fought a lot better opposition and boxing is all about levels,” said Peter to skysports.com about his belief that Fury is the best heavyweight. “An unfit Dillian Whyte still gave Joshua problems so when you compare that with Tyson beating an 11-year world champion like Klitschko, it’s almost laughable.”

For boxing fans who may not remember or who may not have ever seen Joshua’s fight against Dillian Whyte (16-1, 13 KOs) last December, Joshua was knocked silly for a moment in the 2nd round by an injured and out of shape Whyte. Joshua was there to be had if Whyte’s injured shoulder hadn’t given out on him completely. It’s scary to think what an in shape and healthy Whyte would have done to Joshua in that fight. Peter says that Whyte was basically training himself before the fight.

Barry is in too much of a hurry to crown Joshua as the best heavyweight on earth. I mean, I can totally understand why Barry would want to do that. If the world believes that Joshua is the best thing since sliced bread, it would likely increase his popularity to enormous proportions. it would mean huge endorsement deals, increased PPV buys, and probably a bunch of top fighters gravitating to Matchroom Sport to rush to get signed by them.

Joshua is the gravy train and it helps if he’s perceived as the best heavyweight on the planet prematurely before he’s had even one actual test. You can’t count an injured Whyte or Charles Martin as true tests because those guys are flawed and didn’t have the tools they needed for them to win. I think Whyte can be a very good fighter if he were in great shape, uninjured and well trained. But he wasn’t going to beat Joshua last December being in the injured and seemingly out of shape condition he was in for that fight.

“Those are bold statements [from Hearn] and everyone is entitled to their opinion but for me, looking at it, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s crazy,” said Peter. “It’s going to be interesting because Tyson is going to keep winning and as long as he keeps winning, people can say whatever they like.”

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I think Peter is just as far off with his vision thing about Fury being the best as Hearn is with him thinking Joshua is No.1. Instead of these two guys standing on the soap box claiming their fighters are the best, they need to have their fighters start facing the best so that they can prove it. This means that if Fury beats Wladimir a second time, then he needs to roisk his hide against Deontay and Ortiz in back to back fights.

If Fury can make it through that gauntlet, then he can look to continue his path tor proving he’s the No.1 fighter by facing Kubrat Pulev, Parker, Alexander Povetkin, Carlos Takam and Bermane Stiverne.

Like I said, just based on how the top heavyweights look right now, I think Deontay is by far the most solid of the heavyweights. Joshua looks like a slow, flat-footed, over-muscled, mechanical arm puncher. Fury is little more than a slapper that moves with a resume of mostly weak opposition.