By Charles Brun: WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury looks like he’s done at 35, doomed to defeat as he heads into his undisputed championship contest against IBF/WBA/WBO champ Oleksandr Usyk in early next year.
Given what we saw last Saturday night, Usyk will school Fury and beat him by a lopsided twelve round decision. Judging won’t save Fury against Usyk because he’s not going to make the rounds close by throwing a handful of shots.
The promoters for Fury will be delaying the undisputed fight with Usyk until next year, supposedly because of the bruising he took at the hands of Francis Ngannou last weekend, but some believe that they’re worried after seeing how poor Tyson was.
By kicking the undisputed clash into next year, it gives Fury time to trim off that Elvis paunch that he’s put on from good eating and allows him to work on his mobility, which is completely gone at this late stage of his career. When you have the millions that Fury has, you can eat well, which he has.
It doesn’t matter how far into the future Fury’s promoters move the fight with Usyk; he’s still likely to lose unless he can get the same judging crew from last weekend to score his fights.
Fury needs the Fountain of Youth in the worst way to bring him back to what he was years ago before his sedentary lifestyle took away his skills.
Fury is stuck with at least two fights with Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), and there’s an excellent chance that Tyson will lose both of those contests, with his career in the dump heap.
Heavyweights that beat Fury
- Zhilei Zhang
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Francis Ngannou – *with quality judging in a neutral venue
- Jared Anderson
- Filip Hrgovic
- Arslanbek Makhmudov
- Martin Bakole
- Anthony Joshua
- Fabio Wardley
- Frank Sanchez
- Andy Ruiz
Given Fury’s love of money, he probably won’t retire after those losses because he can still be trotted out for old-timer fights against a washed Anthony Joshua & 38-year-old Deontay Wilder.
People will still want to see Fury fight those guys after he comes up empty against Usyk in two contests, but there won’t be the same interest there once was.
Last Saturday night was an eye-opener for fans because they had assumed that Fury would make easy work of Usyk and all the other heavyweights in the division.
What we saw last Saturday night from Fury in his fight ex-UFC champion Francis Nganou was a reality check, showing that he’s not nearly the best in the heavyweight division and just a guy that his promoters matched against beatable fringe-level fighters and a flawed champion.
Francis Ngannou exposed Fury as an old has-been last weekend in Saudi Arabia, dropping him and foiling his attempts to mug him on the inside by grappling, which has become his main method for winning fights in recent years since he started packing on the pounds.
“No one is going to look at him like the pound-for-pound king. I think Usyk is the favorite. Tyson looked washed,” said Todd Grisham to DAZN’s channel about the flabby-looking Tyson Fury talking about his performance against Francis Ngannou.
Charles Brun realized Fury was a washed fighter several years ago when he stopped moving around the ring and became a 100% mauler. When Fury hooked up with trainer SugarHill Steward and began packing on the pounds, that was the end.
The only reason Fury has continued to enjoy success is because of the opposition that he’s been matched against in the last three years. If Fury had been fighting the elite-level guys since 2020, he’d have lost numerous times because he’s easy to hit now that he’s no longer a mobile fighter.
Fury’s opposition since 2020:
- Francis Ngannou
- Derek Chisora
- Dillian Whyte
- Deontay Wilder
Those guys aren’t the killers in the heavyweight division, and that’s the only reason Fury has been kicked off the top of the hill as the so-called #1 fighter in the division.
