If Not Usyk, Then Who Fills Fury's April 29th Dance Card?

[keithmoonhangover]

No because many good or great champions had crossover bouts like Mayweather, Ali, Walcott, Moore, Holyfield, Berbick, etc. Novelties are not a bad thing. Besides, had the Ngannou fight took place immediately after Whyte it'd of been perfectly acceptable because Whyte was the mandatory challenger for nearly three years. As long as you're doing mandatories and truly important fights, you can throw in a gimme (ie, Chisora) or a novelty.

Mayweather, Ali, Walcott, Moore, Holyfield and Berbick,'s 'novelties' were either a one sided beat down or a disaster. If you love boxing, you can't advocate this.

So they get a pass but Tyson Fury doesn't?

I call horseshit.

I also don't think it is right to say one isn't a proper boxing fan if you happen to like crossover matches. I know some people like to get pretty snobby with boxing acting as if it's complete and total blasphemy to do anything else but have boxing matches if you are a contender or champion, but if we're going to go down that same road then a contender or champion should never be able to do commercials or act in television or movies, etc.

If it was good enough for John L Sullivan to have a match with William Muldoon or Bob Fitzsimmons to have a match with Ernest Roeber, etc then we shouldn't be so snobby about modern heavyweights engaging in similar matches that only bring in more attention or fans to the sport.

No one gets a pass. Novelty crossover fights are the horsesh1t.

[joshj909]

No one gets a pass. Novelty crossover fights are the horsesh1t.

The only time I would have any interest would be if the division had been cleared with no legit contenders and the opponent was an MMA or Kickboxing champion of the same division and with some striking ability and it was a two sports, two fight deal.

A boxer will almost always lose in MMA and vice versa so if it's not a two fight deal then we are just going to see one of them lose decisively. There are legitimate credible opponents that we should be seeing Fury face rather than discussions of the novelty opponent. It would be ducking, plain and simple.

Others in history don't get a pass but I think these days its way easier to know more about what's going on in the sport rather than comparing it to decades ago when people relied on word of mouth, newspapers, promoters and TV networks to inform them.

Boxing as a sport loses credibility for a generation every time a novelty fight happens and people have become more and more aware of it. Boxing as "prizefighting" can only provide limited interest to most fans if the competition aspect is not there.

[BigGar]

I reckon it’s Wilder 4 after hearing that.

[deadpan]

Yet did those legendary fighters take on their main rivals?

He doesn't get a pass because it appears that he's avoiding his main rival in a historic matchup, and instead, trying to cram easy win fights down our throats and expects the fans to accept it.
He doesn't get a pass because he offers up bullshit excuses for avoiding his biggest rival(s).
He doesn't get a pass because he contradicts himself all the time. He's a fighting man, will fight for free, money doesn't matter. Yet, when it comes down to it, it's all about money.
He doesn't get a pass because he gaslights his gullible fans into believing his rival isn't a worthy opponent, dropping in words such as 'middleweight' to describe a 6ft 3" 223lbs rival. This works with the most gullible, who even go as far as to state his rival is the same size as his wife.

The horseshit is all around you.

He's had his (as promised)gimme easy win over an old friend to help him into retirement. He's had his times in the WWE to help bring more attention/fans to boxing.
All we'd like now is for him to back up the words he's spoken many a time, and prove that he's the best of his era and can't be beaten. That time is now and the opponent is Usyk.

I wholeheartedly agree. He's never fancied this fight, he is very afraid that he would lose, which would be catastrophic for his sense of self and his legacy. And he quote possibly would.

[Twinkle Toes]

One of the Fury family did mention Ruiz, first ime i've heard any other name being mentioned.

[HomicideHenry]

One of the Fury family did mention Ruiz, first ime i've heard any other name being mentioned.

Shane was the one who put out Ruiz and I think that would be a good substitute if Usyk couldn't be made. It would be one of those legacy fights because 10 or 20 or 30 years from now when people argue about this time they could point out that Tyson Fury fought everyone who held a belt basically. He definitely needs more than just Wilder 3x's on his resume. Beating Ruiz would put him ahead of Usyk and Joshua because that'd mean Fury fought and beat three title holders: Klitschko, Wilder, and Ruiz.

[Counter-puncher]

Yet did those legendary fighters take on their main rivals?

He doesn't get a pass because it appears that he's avoiding his main rival in a historic matchup, and instead, trying to cram easy win fights down our throats and expects the fans to accept it.
He doesn't get a pass because he offers up bullshit excuses for avoiding his biggest rival(s).
He doesn't get a pass because he contradicts himself all the time. He's a fighting man, will fight for free, money doesn't matter. Yet, when it comes down to it, it's all about money.
He doesn't get a pass because he gaslights his gullible fans into believing his rival isn't a worthy opponent, dropping in words such as 'middleweight' to describe a 6ft 3" 223lbs rival. This works with the most gullible, who even go as far as to state his rival is the same size as his wife.

The horseshit is all around you.

He's had his (as promised)gimme easy win over an old friend to help him into retirement. He's had his times in the WWE to help bring more attention/fans to boxing.
All we'd like now is for him to back up the words he's spoken many a time, and prove that he's the best of his era and can't be beaten. That time is now and the opponent is Usyk.

fucken nailed

[jamesmcdonnell]

One of the Fury family did mention Ruiz, first ime i've heard any other name being mentioned.

FFS.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I would not have minded the Ngannou fight if it happened immediately after Whyte.

You wouldn't have minded an elite boxer fighting someone who's never boxed before?

It’s a nonsense! The stance in UFC is totally different to boxing so they don’t get push off-balance too easily and get taken down. Ngannou would be all over the place just trying to get his feet right when moving, and Fury would be hitting him at will and having the easiest spar of his life. It would be a seriously awful spectacle which would only last until Ngannou was completely exhausted.

I would absolutely piss myself laughing if Ngannou sparked him. The dude has frightening power, but like you say, his balance would be all over the place, and Fury would dance rings around him and beat him up bad.

[joshj909]

You wouldn't have minded an elite boxer fighting someone who's never boxed before?

It’s a nonsense! The stance in UFC is totally different to boxing so they don’t get push off-balance too easily and get taken down. Ngannou would be all over the place just trying to get his feet right when moving, and Fury would be hitting him at will and having the easiest spar of his life. It would be a seriously awful spectacle which would only last until Ngannou was completely exhausted.

I would absolutely piss myself laughing if Ngannou sparked him. The dude has frightening power, but like you say, his balance would be all over the place, and Fury would dance rings around him and beat him up bad.

The main different is that frightening power doesn't translate well when you have much bigger gloves to block the shots with. It's pretty difficult for MMA guys to block Ngannou's big swings but boxing gloves offer a pretty effective shield.

[emallini]

Ngannou would look ridiculous trying to land on a decent boxer. Stumbling all over the show swinging at thin air.

[Gran Hermano]

It will be Ngannou or Wilder IV

[gilgamesh]

It will be Ngannou or Wilder IV

It definitely won't be Wilder again this year. If not Usyk, it'll be someone a good bit easier, and safer. Plenty of options in and around the Top 10-15.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I think given the date now, we can say fairly confidently, it's not going to be Usyk.

They would easily spend 6 months hyping this.

Fury will be gone in a year or two, and his best wins will be Wilder and an old Klitshsko. Not really a great reign considering what could have been.

The thing is, I think he has the beating of Usyk, as good as Usyk is, but he just isn't really bothered about his reign whatsoever, and his fans are eedjits who just say stupid shite like 'Ah he'd have beaten him anyway.'

[887986]

I think given the date now, we can say fairly confidently, it's not going to be Usyk.

They would easily spend 6 months hyping this.

Fury will be gone in a year or two, and his best wins will be Wilder and an old Klitshsko. Not really a great reign considering what could have been.

The thing is, I think he has the beating of Usyk, as good as Usyk is, but he just isn't really bothered about his reign whatsoever, and his fans are eedjits who just say stupid shite like 'Ah he'd have beaten him anyway.'

Nonsense.

Fury just doesn't like the risk/reward ratio that Usyk represents. Peter Fury, the most tolerable and level-headed of all the Furys, has long said Usyk is dangerous. There's a very clear pattern in Fury's career management: whenever he is confident he is the favourite, he quickly gets the contract and the fight done - Chisora, a has-been, beaten Whyte etc. But whenever he sees the opponent as a risk to his artificial 0-loss record, he messes around, runs the clock down, prices himself out and ultimately ducks. That's what he did with Price, Ustinov, Klitschko (with the rematch), a still unbeaten Whyte, a still unbeaten Joshua and now Usyk. Fury is all about milking the casuals and he knows that losing his artificial 0 to a "middleweight midget" of all people would be devastating for his market value and overall legacy.

[Coco]

I think given the date now, we can say fairly confidently, it's not going to be Usyk.

They would easily spend 6 months hyping this.

Fury will be gone in a year or two, and his best wins will be Wilder and an old Klitshsko. Not really a great reign considering what could have been.

The thing is, I think he has the beating of Usyk, as good as Usyk is, but he just isn't really bothered about his reign whatsoever, and his fans are eedjits who just say stupid shite like 'Ah he'd have beaten him anyway.'

Nonsense.

Fury just doesn't like the risk/reward ratio that Usyk represents. Peter Fury, the most tolerable and level-headed of all the Furys, has long said Usyk is dangerous. There's a very clear pattern in Fury's career management: whenever he is confident he is the favourite, he quickly gets the contract and the fight done - Chisora, a has-been, beaten Whyte etc. But whenever he sees the opponent as a risk to his artificial 0-loss record, he messes around, runs the clock down, prices himself out and ultimately ducks. That's what he did with Price, Ustinov, Klitschko (with the rematch), a still unbeaten Whyte, a still unbeaten Joshua and now Usyk. Fury is all about milking the casuals and he knows that losing his artificial 0 to a "middleweight midget" of all people would be devastating for his market value and overall legacy.

So why did he fight Wilder 3 times? Esp after that knockdown

[margaret thatcher]

we still have a lot of questions to answer about fury-wilder, we need at least 2 more fights between them, with delboy 4 in between

[DrDuke]

we still have a lot of questions to answer about fury-wilder, we need at least 2 more fights between them, with delboy 4 in between

And with a couple of Usyk-Joshua rematches in the same time. AJ was closer the 2nd time, he's on the right track. Let's revive the old school attitude.

[margaret thatcher]

stick julius long vs karriem respress 4 on the undercard and im down

[gilgamesh]

I think given the date now, we can say fairly confidently, it's not going to be Usyk.

They would easily spend 6 months hyping this.

Fury will be gone in a year or two, and his best wins will be Wilder and an old Klitshsko. Not really a great reign considering what could have been.

The thing is, I think he has the beating of Usyk, as good as Usyk is, but he just isn't really bothered about his reign whatsoever, and his fans are eedjits who just say stupid shite like 'Ah he'd have beaten him anyway.'

You never know with Fury. You might retire after his next fight or he might fight for a long time to come. I saw an interview with him not long ago after he came back after the "retirement" following the Whyte fight, and he said that he thinks he might fight on till he's 40 because it's the thing that keeps his mental health intact, and he's scared of what he'll do once it's gone from his life.

I suspect Fury will either be fighting or talking sh*t and promoting exhibitions for well over a decade to come.

Fury is already the best Heavyweight of this Century after Lennox Lewis, but the era is definitely incomplete without a meeting between him and Usyk.

There also needs to be a fight with him and AJ just for the hell of it at some point, but obviously AJ needs some wins first.

I'd be fine with him never fighting AJ, but only if AJ fights and loses to Wilder. AJ has to fight one of them.

[mickey1975]

I think given the date now, we can say fairly confidently, it's not going to be Usyk.

They would easily spend 6 months hyping this.

Fury will be gone in a year or two, and his best wins will be Wilder and an old Klitshsko. Not really a great reign considering what could have been.

The thing is, I think he has the beating of Usyk, as good as Usyk is, but he just isn't really bothered about his reign whatsoever, and his fans are eedjits who just say stupid shite like 'Ah he'd have beaten him anyway.'

Nonsense.

Fury just doesn't like the risk/reward ratio that Usyk represents. Peter Fury, the most tolerable and level-headed of all the Furys, has long said Usyk is dangerous. There's a very clear pattern in Fury's career management: whenever he is confident he is the favourite, he quickly gets the contract and the fight done - Chisora, a has-been, beaten Whyte etc. But whenever he sees the opponent as a risk to his artificial 0-loss record, he messes around, runs the clock down, prices himself out and ultimately ducks. That's what he did with Price, Ustinov, Klitschko (with the rematch), a still unbeaten Whyte, a still unbeaten Joshua and now Usyk. Fury is all about milking the casuals and he knows that losing his artificial 0 to a "middleweight midget" of all people would be devastating for his market value and overall legacy.

Chisora 1?
Peter Fury has zero input into Tysons career and I doubt they care what he thinks. A lot of people think Usyk is dangerous.

[Manchester Hitman]

I can’t see how Fury is fighting anybody on April 29th. He is not in training as Sugar Hill is in the US with Lkolie etc, plus he was doing the Saudi tour all last week. Meanwhile, Usyk has probably been training for months like Clubber Lang.

I think the best hope is that the Saudis made him a new offer last week which he likes and it happens over there at some point next.

[big lennox]

I can’t see how Fury is fighting anybody on April 29th. He is not in training as Sugar Hill is in the US with Lkolie etc, plus he was doing the Saudi tour all last week. Meanwhile, Usyk has probably been training for months like Clubber Lang.

I think the best hope is that the Saudis made him a new offer last week which he likes and it happens over there at some point next.

That's my take. I do hope it is against Uysk.

[The Gratest]

As long as he wasn't at any fashion shows in Saudi he should be fine.

[big lennox]

As long as he wasn't at any fashion shows in Saudi he should be fine.