Teddy Atlas believes Tyson Fury will retire after one more fight

By Boxing News - 03/17/2023 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Teddy Atlas says he thinks Tyson Fury is getting ready to retire after fighting Oleksandr Usyk and Francis Ngannou. Atlas believes that with how WBC heavyweight champion Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) is acting now, he’s getting ready to hang up his gloves after one more fight.

The fact that Fury was deadset against a rematch clause for the three-belt champion Usyk (20-0, 30 KOs) and the way he’s asking for a ridiculous split suggests that he’s looking for a golden parachute to give him a soft landing in his impending retirement.

Atlas believes Fury wanted to delay the Usyk fight as much as he could because he wasn’t in shape, so he threw a crazy 70-30 split at the talented IBF, WBA & WBO champion, hoping he would reject it so the negotiations could drag out to give him more time to train.

When Usyk surprisingly agreed right away, a desperate Fury brought up the rematch clause as another hurdle that he hoped would delay the negotiations. Usyk wasn’t having it.

Will Fury cause a delay in Usyk fight?

He agreed right away, and now Fury, looking flabby, nothing like an athlete, only has six weeks to lose the weight to face one of the fastest, mobile heavyweights in the division.

If Fury isn’t able to trim off the excess blubber that coats his midsection like a down jacket in the six weeks, some fans believe he’ll conveniently experience an injury in camp, which will give him another four to six weeks to burn off the rest of the flab.

“It sounds to me like he’s ready to close up shop,” said Teddy  Atlas on his The Fight podcast about his belief that Tyson Fury is getting ready to retire at 34.

“He’s got enough money for two lifetimes. He doesn’t need to think about anything after because maybe he’s made up his mind that there is no after [the Usyk fight].

“Maybe he’ll come and fight Francis Ngannou. Do a Mayweather-McGregor. Do one of those. I see where he’s coming from. He’s coming from,  ‘I’m closing up shop.  I don’t need anything else,'” said Atlas.

Tyson thought Usyk would turn down split

“Fury might be thinking, ‘Oh sugar, this guy [Usyk] said yes to 70-30?” Atlas continued. “He said yes to this. I thought he was going to say no and slow it [negotiations] down and give us time [to train].’ So he [Fury] had to throw another rock [fuss about rematch clause].

“That last one is a definite possibility with him chucking another hurdle at him [Usyk] because everything he’s chucked at him, the guy has said,  ‘Yes, let’s get in the ring. Let’s do this.’

“A lot of the time, the smaller man has the edge because he’s quicker, and sometimes he might be smarter and technically a little better. He had to be better at a smaller weight, whereas the bigger guy got away with power and size, like a George Foreman, more than with pure technique,” said Teddy.

Usyk’s size gives him an advantagee

“A lot of the time, the smaller guy, even though he’s smaller, might have the edge,” said Atlas. “He’s a little more sophisticated and a little more finesse to him, where in those departments, he can keep the bigger guy off balance. Here’s the problem. The bigger guy, the behemoth in Fury. He has those attributes that are normally attached to a smaller guy.

“He’s agile, he’s quick, he’s cerebral, his technique is good, and he can box. That’s what makes it a heck of a match. On the side of Usyk, can the smaller guy, who doesn’t automatically get granted those advantages that a smaller guy usually gets granted against a bigger guy?

“Some of that is even territory, and the bigger guy is still bigger. That’s a lot to overcome. That’s why Fury will be the favorite in that fight. But I am not going to bet against a guy [Usyk] that simply knows how to win

“In this fight, it might just come down, and I know Fury knows how to win too, but this guy [Usyk] won a gold medal in the Olympics, he won a cruiserweight title, he unified all the titles, and he won the heavyweight title.

“He knows how to win. There’s something that can be said about a guy that just knows how to win,”  said Atlas.

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