By Bob Smith: Like many boxing fans who watched heavyweight Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) in a weak performance against Steve Cunningham, I came off with a view of him as sloppy, amateur, and more of a potential WWE star than a legitimate boxer. My antidote and I believe the antidote for those who also saw him against Cunningham is to view the fight between him and Derek Chisora.
Yes, Chisora was overweight and slightly sluggish; on the other hand, Chisora has been in with the elite of the heavyweight division including a Klitschko and David Haye, and in only his 15th fight Fury not only held his own, but dominated most of the fight.
The one exception to this was when he was stunned early in the fight from a few looping Hail Mary punches of Chisora, who does have good power. But Fury’s major advantage is his height and reach – whatever the strength of his chin, by the time a punch arrives there, especially if he is moving backwards, as he frequently does against strong opponents, it lacks vital force to hurt him, even if it does stun him.
His opponents simply cannot jab effectively against him – he is too quick and skilled; he is an excellent counter-puncher, and other than those also above 6’4″ or 6’5″, he has a tremendous reach advantage against most opponents. Thus, his opponents often feel desperate and throw wild shots; when they do this, he opens up, counters, and throws beautiful combinations.
His Achilles heel is that he is a very weak inside fighter and it has not yet been proven that he can handle consistent hard body shots from up close in a largely inside fight. I doubt that he can. However, he has had good success with the strategy of simply holding any time his opponent closes the gap and gets inside.
Emmanuel Steward has seen him train and spar and has confirmed the strength of his chin. I doubt he can take more than a few rounds of the Klitschkos at this point, but in the future he may be able to lose a UD to them. However, if he does fight David Haye I have to say that he is the favorite. David Haye will be out-countered, out-maneuvered, and out-boxed, and he is in for a big surprise if he think that he will knock Tyson Fury out in 3-4 rounds – it’s not going to happen!
I say this not as someone how is a fan of Fury but as someone who has an acquaintance with introductory physics and who has watched some boxing. By the time David Haye’s best shot arrives on Fury’s chin, it has lost a lot of velocity and acceleration, especially with Fury moving backward as he frequently does. David Haye’s style is tailor made for a Fury victory.
Against an opponent with a good inside game or as long a reach as his, Fury will probably be very challenged and may well lose, however.
But I look forward to a quite impressive Fury victory over Haye that will catapult him to the elite of the heavyweight division. He is a skilled boxer whose technique and combinations and ring generalship are underrated.
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