By Jake Tiernan: Carl Froch let Tyson Fury have it, lecturing for his decision to turn his back on legacy & boxing in favor of chasing money being dished out by the Saudis for him to do crossover fights against non-boxers.
Froch says that WBC heavyweight champion Fury is hurting the sport by choosing to focus on money in a 10 round circus fight against 37-year-old former UFC champion Francis Ngannou on October 28th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fury’s decision not to face the top boxers like Oleksandr Usyk & Anthony Joshua is hurting his legacy, says Froch, and he says that he won’t invite him to his table at the Hall of Fame party in 2024.
Froch shouldn’t be all that surprised that Fury has chosen to take easy money fights against guys like Ngannou to finish his boxing career on a whimper, as he’s been talking about retiring since his win against a washed up 39-year-old heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
In Fury’s eyes, that victory was the top for him, and he didn’t seem to care that he was facing a faded version of Klitschko.
Just beating Klitschko was good enough for him, and didn’t care that he was over the hill. After that fight, Fury ballooned up to close to 400 lbs and didn’t fight against it for 2 1/2 years until 2018. He never has been very ambitious, and one gets the sense that he doesn’t take much pride in himself or his accomplishments. Money is the only allure.
Fury’s only fought one notable fighter during the last five years, Deontay Wilder, and he was arguably knocked out twice by him in fights where the referees gave him a huge break by not stopping the fight and disqualifying him for fouling.
“The fans are turning against you. It’s sad to see,” Carl Froch said on his social platform, trashing Tyson Fury.
“Deep down, I think you know you’re hurting the sport. You’re taking the money instead of being full of pride for the sport.”
At this point, Fury would likely do anything the Saudis asked if they were willing to give him a ton of tough. It’s just sad that they’re willing to pay Fury to fight a non-boxer rather than insisting that he face Usyk, the guy that fans want to see him face.
“You can have as much money as you want, but if you turn up to a Hall of Fame party next year, you won’t be dining on the top table with me and my peers. You won’t belong there with that C,” said Froch.
“You need to get in the ring and defend that WBC belt against a real fighter, someone like Usyk or Anthony Joshua,” said Froch.
