By Sean McDaniel: Heavyweight Tyson Fury (11-0, 9 KO’s) has taken a ton of criticism for his performance in stopping Big John McDermott (25-7, 16 KO’s) in the 9th round last Friday night at the Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, Essex. I, for one, don’t agree with the criticism and think a lot of it is a bit unfair. Fury, 22, looked impressive in the first rounds and also in the 8th and 9th rounds, showing good power, nice combinations and a wide punch assortment that he was able to use on the heavy McDermott. Fury clearly tired under the hot lights in rounds five through seven.
However, the conditions in the ring were reportedly hot and tropical in nature and it’s really no surprise that the 22-year-old Fury had problems with the heat. You have to give Fury credit for coming back in the 8th round to floor McDermott with a flurry of power shots. In the 9th round, Fury finished off McDermott with a hard uppercut to the head. Fury’s uppercuts were pretty awesome.
Granted, Fury looked amateurish at times with his big wild swings, but most of the time, Fury was able to land his shots and you could see that McDermott was bothered by them, even early in the fight. Fury may not look like he’s punching hard, but he is. He’s 6’7”, and when he connects, he hurts his opponents and does it in an effortless manner. McDermott had little luck in going after Fury in this fight, because Fury clearly got stronger from last time he fought McDermott last year, and used that strength to bully McDermott in the first four rounds.
Fury won the vacant BBBofC English heavyweight title in the fight, and plans on going after British heavyweight champion Derek Chisora next. I give Fury good chance of winning that fight, because he’s got the reach, the height and will probably catch Chisora with some big shots early in the fight and could end up stopping him. Fury has to work on his conditioning a little before that fight because it could turn out to be a grueling affair. What Fury needs is a good trainer and some top of the line sparring partners. Fury can’t get better if he doesn’t have the right kind of team behind him. He needs have the very best if he wants to make the most of his career.
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