By Trevor McIntyre: Former world champion Ricky Hatton says Tyson Fury is better now than he was when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko three years ago in 2015. Based on what he’s seeing in the gym, Hatton feels that he 29-year-old Fury (27-0, 19 KOs) will have no problems defeating WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in their fight in November. It’s an easy fight for Fury as far as Hatton is concerned.
Unfortunately, Hatton’s views on Fury being better now than he was three years ago against Klitschko aren’t shared by the boxing public. The fans and media see the 29-year-old Fury looking incredibly ring rusty since making his comeback in June against Sefer Seferi. Fury looked flabby, slow and weak in defeating Seferi by a 4th round knockout.
In Fury’s last fight against Francesco Pianeta (35-5-1, 21 KOs) on August 18, he looked weak and slow against him as well. Fury’s weight was down from 276 pounds from his comeback fight against Seferi to 258 pounds, but he still looked slow and notably weak. It was expected that Fury would lose power due to him dropping more than 100 pounds from 390 pounds to 258 pounds. Losing that kind of weight would make any fighter weak. It’s going to take longer for Fury to get used to being lighter because he’s lost too much weight in a hurry.
“The way he’s been performing in the gym I think he’s better than he was before the Klitschko fight. Honestly, he really is,” Hatton said to Fighthub about Fury supposedly being better now than he was when he defeated Klitschko in 2015. “I’ve seen Tyson in the gym and, you know, he has. What he’s done in the gym, he beats Wilder all day for me, with what I’m seeing in the gym. Absolutely phenomenal the way he’s performing in the gym,” Hatton says.
Fury didn’t look that good in the Klitschko fight. It was more of a case of Wladimir not wanting to throw punches because of the movement that Fury was using to neutralize his offense. Wilder would have done a lot better against the Fury that defeated Wladimir.
Fury needs more rounds and a lot more tune-up fights to get him ready for the Wilder fight, according to Shannon Briggs. He doesn’t see Fury as being nearly ready for the Wilder fight. Briggs thinks Fury is going to get knocked out early by Wilder. Hatton apparently doesn’t agree with Briggs’ views about Fury being over-matched and not ready.
Hatton isn’t saying who Fury is sparring for him to look good inside the gym. If he’s sparring an over-matched sparring partner that has been dragged into the ring to make Fury look good, then it’s understandable why he looks so good. Bringing in a sparring partner that is happy to get a nice payday doesn’t reflect what Fury will be experiencing when he faces the 6’7” Wilder in inside the ring in November. That’s going to be a different story completely.
“He didn’t quite take it to the ring last time but there’s reasons for that,” Hatton said in trying to explain why Fury didn’t look impressive against Pianeta on August 18. ”He’s had such a long training camp, you know, so there’s a lot of things going on in between his ears. And for me, as far as I’m concerned, he’s got the cobwebs out the way and everything like that. This is a different story now. I see him beating Wilder all day long. I clearly do. Something to behold — he’s just got to carry it to the ring now.”
There’s no question that Fury has really had to push it hard in his training camps to lose weight. Fury’s training camps have obviously been grueling affairs for him. You can argue that Fury’s two training camps that he’s had since making his comeback have been partial fat farms for him to drop weight. Fury’s goal is to get his weight down to the mid-240s, which is what he weighed for his fight against Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. Fury is 13 pounds away from 245 pounds, but he might be weakened if he does get that low. Fury needs to decide whether it’s smarter for him to be a little heavier for the Wilder fight or if he should be super thin like he was in his best fight of his career against Klitschko. When Big George Foreman made a comeback to the sport in the 1980s, he didn’t try to get back down to his old weight of the 220s. The lowest Foreman got was 235 pounds for his fight against Dwight Muhammad Qawi in March 1988. A weak looking Foreman struggled to beat Qawi by a 7th round knockout. After that fight, Foreman decided that it was better for him to carry around more weight in terms of fat than it was for him to look slim and trim. Foreman did look trim at 235 pounds, but his power wasn’t the same. After that fight, Foreman gradually moved his weight into the 250s and finished his career at 260 against Shannon Briggs in 1997.
It might be smarter for Fury to be in the 260s than it would be for him to drain himself to get back down to the 240s. At 6’9”, Fury might be stronger if he’s a little heavier than if he trims down to 245 for the Wilder fight. Of course, it’s important for Fury to make sure that he’s not carrying around too much fat around his midsection. In the Seferi fight, Fury had a lot of visible flab around his midsection that he needed to take off. Against Pianeta, Fury appeared to be in much better condition, but his punching power looked to have decreased from what we saw from him against Seferi. It’s going to be a balancing act for Fury. He needs to make sure he gets his weight at the right poundage for him to still have punching power to make Wilder think twice about unloading on him with his right hands. Wilder isn’t going to want to go right hand happy if he has to worry about being countered by one of Fury’s right hand shots.
