By Sean McDaniel: Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury (12-0, 9 KO’s) fights tonight on the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins vs. Jean Pascal bout in Quebec, Canada against 37-year-old journeyman Zack Page (21-32-2, 7 KO’s) in an eight round bout. Page is a replacement opponent for Galen Brown, who was a replacement for Israel Garcia. It all amounts to the same, though, because Page is about the same kind of heavyweight, if not better, than Brown and Garcia.
This should give boxing fans an opportunity to see how much progress that Fury has made recently. He’s been sparring with IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko recently in Austria while training with legendary trainer Emanuel Steward, a specialist in working with big heavyweights like Lennox Lewis.
In an article at thesun.co.uk, Fury said “From my first hand experience, I believe Wladimir will knock out [David] Haye if their unification fight comes off next year. Wladimir punches too hard, is too experienced and too ring wise for the likes of Haye.”
Fury isn’t the only one that sees Wladimir as too powerful and experienced for Haye. There are many other people in the boxing world who see this as a mismatch waiting to happen. Haye perhaps could have helped himself be ready for a bout against Wladimir by at least fighting some heavyweights with a youth instead of picking over older heavyweights like 38-year-old John Ruiz, 39-year-old Audley Harrison and 36-year-old Nikolay Valuev. Haye likely will be in shock when he enters the ring with Wladimir, because it’s going to be a dramatic difference from the types of heavyweights that Haye has been feasting on since moving up in weight in 2008.
As for Fury, he should be able to take Page out tonight without too many problems. The real question is whether Fury will show progress from his past fights.
Fury says “The two weeks I spent in Austria were brilliant. I learned so much and I feel I gave a good account of myself whenever I sparred out there. The sparring was definitely better than Haye’s recent fight with Audley Harrison. That fight was terrible. Haye was as scared as Harrison as Harrison to throw a punch. He is terrified of a big man.”
Comments are closed.