By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Eddie Hearn says the fans are no longer interested in the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk undisputed heavyweight championship after watching Tyson’s disputed victory over Francis Ngannou last Saturday night.
Fans will obviously be interested in seeing WBC heavyweight champion Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) in the first quarter of 2024, but more so because of Tyson’s personality.
He’ll make it entertaining by acting it up clownishly, and his father, John Fury, will likely use his WWE style of promotions to get fans into the fight.
The Matchroom promoter says Fury needs to face Anthony Joshua next because people don’t want to see Tyson face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk after his ten round split decision over Ngannou (0-1), who was making his pro debut in boxing.
Fury already stated today that he intends on fighting Usyk next, and he’ll leave it up to his management to decide when the contest takes place. With the money that Fury is receiving from the Saudis, he’s not going to try and wiggle out of the fight.
Anyway, the contracts have already been signed for the match, so even if Fury did want out, he couldn’t do it.
Hearn watched the fight and had Ngannou winning by two rounds over Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) in their headliner contest at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Eddie counts that as a loss, and he feels that many boxing fans view it as a defeat as well.
Fury’s punch resistance gone
“I’m totally lost for words. Francis Ngannou has never boxed before. I didn’t think he was overly impressive, but Tyson Fury looked like he’d never laced up a pair of gloves before,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing, discussing Tyson Fury’s win over Francis Ngannou.
“He got dropped in the third round, never threw a punch, and Ngannou never threw a punch after,” Hearn continued about Fury’s less-than-stellar performance.
Last Saturday night, Fury looked like a washed fighter against Ngannou and struggled mainly because of his age rather than it being a case of fighting a super talent.
“I thought Ngannou won by two rounds; the boxing world has gone mad. Forget Fury-Usyk, no one’s interested. Just give us Fury against AJ,” said Hearn, looking to maneuver his fighter Anthony Joshua straight into a title fight with Fury without facing the killer Deontay Wilder.
“AJ will knock Tyson Fury out inside six rounds. Make the fight; otherwise, we’ll never get it or rematch Ngannou because the guy deserves to have one of the great wins,” said Hearn. “You have to rematch Ngannou.
“I think his [Fury] punch resistance might have gone. It wasn’t even a huge left hook. I think AJ beats Tyson Fury every day of the week. I’m buzzing because I still think I have the top dog [Joshua].
“The win over [then 39-year-old Wladimir] Klitschko was unbelievable,” Hearn said about one of Fury’s best career wins. “He beat Deontay Wilder.
“Fair play, two serious wins. In the last year & a half, he’s beaten Dillian Whyte, who is faded, Dereck Chisora, and just lost to Francis Ngannou,” said Hearn when asked if he thinks Fury is the best heavyweight of all time.
Tyson needs to retire
“He knocked Tyson down. He made Tyson look bad,” said Riddick Bowe to Fight Hub TV about Ngannou. “If he didn’t have any experience, how could you do all that? That’s what I was thinking. Because he was fighting a guy with no fights, he didn’t train as hard as he should have. That’s why it turned out the way it did,” said Riddick about Fury.
For 35-year-old Fury looked VERY old, and you can argue that the only reason he’s still a champion because he’s been fighting exclusively weak opposition since his fight with Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, and even that was a case of fighting a guy at the end of his career.
“If I was Tyson, I would pull out. I wouldn’t fight Usyk this early,” said Bowe about Fury scheduled to face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 23rd. “If I was him, whatever way to postpone and wiggle my way out. I’d wait until I got myself in better shape and then fight him three or four months down the line.”
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren already said today that they plan on moving the fight with Usyk into the first quarter of next year, so it’s definitely not happening in December. The reason Fury looked so bad wasn’t a case of him not training hard, but rather him getting older and that he was never that good to begin with.
Fury’s best wins were over flawed opposition throughout his career, and he should have at least four defeats on his resume. Two of his fights with Deontay Wilder should have been knockout losses, and he clearly lost to John McDermott in their first clash, and, of course, his fight last night against Ngannou. That’s four losses that Fury likely would have had if he wasn’t a popular fighter.
“Of course, he’s disappointed,” said Bowe when asked if he thinks Fury is disappointed with his performance. “As a champion, his heart is broken because I know how it feels to be knocked down. ‘Wait a minute, this guy shouldn’t be knocking me down. He just hit me with a jab.’ You think, ‘I should have done this, or I should have done that.’ I was depressed for a month or so.
“When I fought Andrew Golota,” I was thinking, ‘Why was he able to get away with these things?’ It was because I didn’t do what I was supposed to. If I had run a little bit more, he wouldn’t have been able to hit me because I would have been over here. Things happened, but I used those learning experiences for the next time I fought.
“Get your a** up and run. Whatever you did for this fight, do it more so. Don’t take anyone lightly because when you take them lightly, this is what happens,” said Riddick about the advice he has for Fury.
“Tyson should either retire, or he shouldn’t fight at all because he fought a guy [Ngannou] that just turned pro. To fight a guy with no experience like the young man had, Tyson Fury should have gotten him out early,” said Bowe.
