By Scott Gilfoid: Tyson Fury says he won’t be forced into fighting the “elite” heavyweights in the division until he’s 100% ready to face them in the future. When Fury speaks about the elite heavyweights, he’s referring to Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker.
Fury feels he’s the king of the heavyweights because of his win 2 years ago over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is chomping at the bit to try and get Fury to fight 2 of his Matchroom Sport stable fighters Dillian Whyte and Tony Bellew in the first half of 2018 BEFORE he faces Joshua later in the year. Hearn mentioned on Wednesday that he has a 3-fight proposal for Fury to face Dillian Whyte, Bellew and Joshua in 2018. In other words, Fury would be fighting nothing but Hearn’s Matchroom fighters next year.
“I won’t be forced into fighting these elite, hard guys until I’m fully fit,” said Fury to the Telegraph.co.uk. “I’m not a silly man. I won’t be rushed back, because one punch can change everything in a heavyweight fight.”
It’s a great deal for Hearn if Fury agrees to this 3-fight deal, but it’s not a great deal for Fury. It would be risky for him. Bellew is a runner, and he’d likely try and spoil his way to a win over Fury. There would be no gain for Fury in taking that fight. All Bellew would be looking to do is make Fury look bad in winning. If Fury destroys Bellew, the boxing public won’t give him any credit.
If Fury struggles to win, he’ll be ridiculed by fans. And if he loses to Bellew, then his career as a top fighter is over with for all intents and purposes. That’s why I would never agree to a fight against Bellew if I were Fury. Fighting Whyte would be an OK fight in the future if the boxing public is asking for the match, but not in 2018 with Fury coming off of a 2-year layoff and Whyte looking awful in his recent matches against Robert Helenius and Dereck Chisora.
Bellew and Whyte aren’t exactly elite heavyweights, but they are difficult enough guys to where they could give problems to Fury if he’s out of shape from 2 years of inactivity and a poor diet. It’s a win-win situation for Hearn if Fury gets beaten by Whyte or Bellew, because that’ll increase their value to his Matchroom Sport stable, and it’ll likely lead to a rematch. So instead of Fury fighting those guys once, he’d be stuck fighting them again in a rematch. 2018 would consist of Fury fighting nothing but Hearn’s Matchroom Sport fighters rather than the talented heavyweights not signed with Hearn, such as Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker.
Fury is still grossly overweight at this point, and he still needs to burn off all that fat before he can even think about getting back in the ring against the top heavyweights next year. Moreover, Fury still needs to get his license back from the British Boxing Board of Control [BBBofC] in January. He’ll be meeting with the Board next month to see if he can get his license to fight. If not, then it’s quite possible that Fury might need to go out of the country to get his boxing license to resume his career. That would mean his fights wouldn’t take place in the UK, but they would still be piped into the country. It would be a real mess if Fury is denied his license by the BBBofC.
That’s smart of Fury. He shouldn’t be rushed into fights against guys like Joshua, Bellew and Whyte. I think Fury would likely clown Bellew and Whyte even if he’s obese, but why take the risk? I don’t think it would be a smart move for Fury to agree to Hearn’s 3-fight plan proposal for him in 2018.