By Charles Brun: Boxing great Mike Tyson was pouring on the praise of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury this week, predicting that the 34-year-old will be a champion for a “long time.”
Interestingly, the former heavyweight champion ‘Iron’ Mike says Fury has proven repeatedly that “he’s the best.”
That statement is hard to swallow because if you look at Fury’s 15-year pro resume, the only two names on it are a 39-year-old washed-up Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder, who he arguably should have lost two twice by knockout in his first and third fights.
Wladimir was nowhere near the fighter he once was by the time Fury fought him in 2015, and even then, he barely beat him. Fury ran around the ring the whole time, making it a painfully boring fight to watch.
Wilder clearly knocked Fury out in their first fight in 2018 and in the third in 2021, with what many fans saw as a slow count by the referee after Tyson was dropped twice in round four.
Tyson proclaims Fury as “the best”
“Tyson Fury has proved over and over that he’s the best,” said Mike Tyson to talkSPORT Boxing. “I respect Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk, but who I respect the best?
“Tyson Fury is the champ, he’s the reigning champ, and he’s going to be the champ for a long time if he chooses. That’s just the way unless you get some new guy coming up.
“Joe Joyce is a tough, durable guy, but he’s not going to do it [boot Tyson Fury off his throne]. Nobody around can do it yet. I don’t think anybody is too small [to beat Fury].”
Fury obviously hasn’t fought the best, and when he had the chance to fight Anthony Joshua, he arguably wrecked the negotiations by setting two bizarre, self-defeating deadlines.
When you look back at those two deadlines that Fury set for the Joshua fight, you got to believe that he NEVER wanted to face him because he didn’t set those same deadlines for his two fights against British journeymen Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora.
Will Fury wreck the Usyk negotiations?
“I just think Tyson is not going to do what Anthony Joshua [did by boxing Usyk]. I think he’s going to put a lot of pressure on him [Usyk],” said Tyson.
Now, it appears Fury has ruined the Oleksandr Usyk negotiations by reportedly asking for too much money from the Saudis and wanting to be the A-side. Again, if Fury isn’t fighting the best competition, how on earth can you say he’s proven “he’s the best?”
Tyson says Oleksandr Usyk and Joe Joyce, two fighters that some people believe will defeat Fury, won’t be able to do the job. Mike feels that Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) will defeat both.
What the 56-year-old Tyson doesn’t mention is that Fury might not fight either of those guys who, as he’s become increasingly difficult to negotiate with since his two victories over former WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
If Fury can’t negotiate fights with his toughest competition and the biggest names, it makes no sense what Tyson says about him. He’s not the best. He’s just another example of a fighter that has carefully maneuvered around the biggest threats to his reign in the division and has accumulated wins over weak opposition.
Sadly, Fury’s naive fans, who don’t know better for lack of knowledge about his careful matchmaking, believe he’s facing the best. It’s kind of pathetic when you think about it, but the way the sport is run nowadays.
Flawed fighters are maneuvered like chess pieces and kept away from quality opposition to build up fake records to help them make money.