By Juan Flores: Tyson Fury had his first session back in working out in pads with his trainer, and he looked pretty good for a fighter as badly out of shape as he is right now. Former heavyweight champion Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) has a lot of work to do before he gets back to top form, and is ready to face IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in the second half of 2018.
”First session back on pads. With Ben Davison in Hatton gym, feeling good,” said Fury.
Fury has got to burn that belly off, as he’s carrying around a lot of weight around his midsection.
Fury does move very well for a fat man. He’s got the instincts still for the game. Now the only question is can he burn off the lard, get his boxing license back, and fight at a high level. In any sport, if you stay out of action for 2 years, you’re performance is going to downhill. I don’t care what the sport is. It could be checkers. If you stay out of the game for 2 years, you’re going to struggle when you come back.
In looking at the video, Fury is still dropping his hands after he throws a shot. If Fury does that against Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua, he’s going to eat a combination to the head and wind up counting stars on the canvas. Those guys have the height, reach, speed and power to take advantage of Fury’s flaws. They also have the courage to let their hands go.
Wladimir Klitschko had the speed, power and the size to take advantage of Fury’s technical flaws in their fight in November 2015, but he lacked the courage to take advantage of those flaws. Wladimir was too timid to let his hands go, because he was afraid of being countered by Fury. Joshua and Wilder aren’t afraid, and they’ll ram a 1-2 combination down Fury’s throat if he drops his hands again them.
Fury looks like he’s around 80 pounds away from his optimal fighting weight right now. He usually fights at 250. Fury looks to be in the 330 range or about that. For a lot of people, losing 80 lbs. is a monumental task, but not for Fury. He’s able to take off weight, and fight at a high level as if he were never heavy in the first place.
Fury is going to need to earn the respect of Joshua and Wilder the hard way, by him coming back and beating some solid heavyweights before he gets a title shot against one of them. Right now, Fury doesn’t deserve a title shot, because he’s still out of shape from 2 years of inactivity.
Fury has 2 years of ring rusty to shake off before he can get back to where he was previously in 2015. That was the last time Fury fought in November of 2015, in beating Wladimir Klitschko. Fury subsequently lost his boxing license due to a combination a positive drug test and mental health problems.
Fury now awaits the results of the UK Anti-Doping hearing to find out if he’ll be allowed to continue his boxing career. If they agree to let him resume his career, then he’ll just need the British Boxing Board of Control to give him his license to fight, and he’ll be ready to fight.
