By Jim Calfa: Tyson Fury is coming into his fight with Dillian Whyte this Saturday off the back of war with Deontay Wider and there are questions about whether he’s still the same guy he was before.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) is fighting the wrong guy after the punishment he absorbed against Wilder last October.
If Deonty knocked something loose in Fury’s head from the tremendous right hands that he repeatedly hit him with, Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) is just the type of fighter to capitalize on that.
Tyson will be facing Whyte on Saturday, April 23rd on BT Box Office and ESPN+ PPV in front of 94,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Interestingly, Fury confirmed earlier today at his own workout that he plans on retiring after the fight on Saturday night with Dillian. He doesn’t seem interested in continuing with his career, and it’s understandable.
The 33-year-old Fury has taken a lot of punishment in his three fights with Wilder and was lucky to escape two of them without being knocked out. For all intents and purposes, the first and the third fights were knockout wins for Wilder.
After 14 years in the sport, Fury has a net worth of $30 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, and he’s going to be adding to that figure greatly on Saturday.
Fury will be in danger
“Tyson Fury can do anything in this fight. He can stand way back and throw his jab and box or he can box inside. With each thing there’s a danger,” said Lennox Lewis to BT Sport.
“If he boxes inside, there’s a danger of him getting hit,” Lewis continued. “The guy that he’s boxing [Whyte] is not going to be throwing some punches.
“He’s going to be throwing some serious punches. He’s got a great hook and a great right hand, so he’s going to want to do that. If Tyson Fury is in that distance, he’s definitely going to throw that,” said Lewis.
“The only chance Dillian has is if he clocks Tyson, and the more Tyson stands there and trades like he did in his last two fights [against Deontay Wilder], the more chance he’s got to offer Dillian,” said Ricky Hatton.
“Dillian will hit you and lay you out. If Dillian pays him out, I just wonder how many times he’ll be able to get up from these heavy knockdowns. He’s got to be a bit more sensible in this fight. Pick his moments, especially early.
“Take the sting out of him first, but he’s got to be more cautious and show Dillian the respect he deserves. Dillian can hit, man,” said Hatton.
Fury will recycle game plan
“I think he’s going to do exactly what he did against Wilder,” said David Haye to BT Sport about Tyson Fury on what he’ll do on Saturday.
“The momentum, the hype, and the praise, and everyone is the idolization of how he attacked Wilder in his last two fights. ‘I want more of that, and I want people to know that I’m willing to go toe-to-toe and smash people.’
“I think he’ll feel him out at first, and then impose himself. Watching the Povetkin fight, Povetkin knocking him [Whyte] out will have given him immense confidence.
“When Fury got put down, he was able to get back to his feet. When Povetkin put down Dillian, [he wasn’t able to get back up].
“In his [Fury] mind, he’s got a better chin than him, he’s big, he has the momentum, and he hasn’t fought as many good fighters, hasn’t fought any world champions yet. I believe the momentum is there, and he’s going to put it on Dillian,” said Haye about Fury.
“I think it could slow him down in the later rounds, but he’s shown that when he’s heavier, he fights better,” said Haye when asked if Fury will be slower if he’s heavier or the fight.
“When he fought against Wilder the second time, I think that was his career heaviest weight. The same thing for the third fight. He’s so big that a stone here and there doesn’t really make a difference. I’m not that bothered with his weight.
“The fight where he statistically fought a guy the same size was Mariusz Wach,” Haye said about Whyte. “For whatever reason, he didn’t impress me on that night. He was in Saudi. He didn’t seem like the Dillian Whyte that got in the ring with Povetkin the same time.
“When he’s motivated, he’s very, very effective. When he doesn’t believe his back is against the wall, he lowers his level. Thank God, he’s getting in there against the King, Tyson Fury because we know he’s going to get the best out of himself,” said Haye.
Dillian is an excellent finisher
“He’ll be doing whatever he can to win the fight, and while he’s in there, he’ll be swinging and trying,” said Carl Frampton about Whyte. “I’ll tell you something about Dillian Whyte, which is better than Wilder. There are a few things better than Wilder.
“If he has someone hurt, he’s a better finisher,” Frampton said about Whyte. “Wilder, once he had Fury hurt, he didn’t know how to finish him off. Fury was able to be clever and hold on, and come back and actually win rounds after he was knocked down pretty heavy.
“If Dillian Whyte has you going and there’s more than a minute left in the round, it’s going to be difficult to stay in there,” said Frampton.
“Once Dillian sees an opening, he’s like a harbor shark,” said Frank Bruno.
“It’s two fighters in their physical peaks at the best time in both of their careers ready to go to war,” said Haye. “Like Deontay Wilder. Deontay Wilder was the ultimate person to make Tyson Fury look amazing because he did.
“He has the power to knock him down, but didn’t have the accuracy and the technical know-how to finish him when he was hurt. Whereas, Dillian Whyte is able to mount body assaults and put his punches together when he has someone hurt to close the show. That’s not what’s happened in the past with Fury.
“His fight hand down the pipe isn’t bad,” Haye said about Whyte when asked what Dillian brings to the fight that makes him dangerous for Fury. “I thought the exact same thing until the first round of the Chisora fight, and he nailed him in the first round with a big right hand.
“He really sneaks in that left hook to the body that is very effective, and his punches inside, his uppercuts. Ask Joseph Parker what he’s like on the inside. He mauled him on the inside really, really, and significantly more than Anthony Joshua did. He did a much better job with him and put him down a couple of times.
Does Fury have enough left to beat Dillian?
“He always does [throw the left hook],” said Haye about Whyte. “That’s his honey punch. So if he can land it, he knows he can change the course of the fight.
“He was losing against Chisora until the 11th round. He kept throwing it and throwing it until sooner or later, it landed. So he knows that even if he’s behind on points, he still has got the ability to take someone out.
“That’s a massive bonus for him because a lot of fighters don’t have that finishing shot. So they just fall into losing and continuously lose rounds, whereas he’s always got that belief inside himself because he’s done it before.
“He’s got the power to knock him down, for sure. If Deontay Wilder couldn’t knock him out with the shots he landed, then I don’t think anybody can,” said Haye when asked if he thinks Dillian can knock out Fury.
“Can he stop him, yeah? Can he hit him with that shot, and him not fall down but fall against the ropes, and then he hits him with three or four punches in a row and then the referee jumps in and stops it, yes, I think that’s possible.
“My prediction is Dillian Whyte comes away with the victory. I think he’s primed and ready now to cause one of the biggest upsets since Anthony Joshua lost to Ruiz. I think that was a similar type of situation where very, very few people were giving him a shot.
“That actually works in Dillian Whyte’s favor. The pressure is off of him. He hasn’t been there for press conferences, he hasn’t done anything. No one is worried about what he’s going to do, but I know he’s behind the scenes working hard.
“We’ll all agree that Fury won all three fights against Wilder,” said Frampton. “The last two fights were pretty brutal. Is there a chance that they’ve taken a bit too much out of him?”
“The shots he took were the hardest I’ve seen a heavyweight take and continue to keep coming. They take something out of you.
“How much they take out of you is unknown, but we’ll find out on the 23rd, we’ll find out when they go toe-to-toe,” said Haye about whether the three fights with Wilder took something out of Fury.
