BoxRec

When Fury is in shape and motivated he’s a phenomenal fighter. But when he’s disinterested and hasn’t trained hard he’s distinctly average.

JamesPhilips wrote: ↑01 Oct 2024, 18:57 When Fury is in shape and motivated he’s a phenomenal fighter. But when he’s disinterested and hasn’t trained hard he’s distinctly average.

that is to me a very fair Fury assessment James.

rhino222 wrote: ↑30 Sep 2024, 16:05 Its just a theory but hear me out. Fury beat Wladimir, a Wladimir who was way past his best. Fury moved and spoiled his way to a 12 round decision, not a mean feat away from home but he hardly ripped the title from a prime Wladimir Klitschko.

Fury showed well against Wilder (x3) but maybe it seems now that Wilder had been very carefully matched and was hyped up as being some sort of wrecking machine, but his opponents had been cleverly selected and maneuvered. Fury had some serious life or death moments v Wilder, and it made great live TV for us fans for sure.

Since then (wilder 1) Fury has struggled against average or sub average heavyweights and even struggled v someone in his second only boxing match.

Looking at Furys resume its actually difficult to assess what is his best win? wilder overrated, cunningham old, wlad over the hill, Seferi shlte, Pianeta shlte, schwartz shlte, wallin overrated, whyte faded. chisora almost exhumed, ngannou not even decent amateur standard,

What im trying to say is that Furys showing against Usyk could possibly have been the peak of Fury, the best he can do.

maybe he (Fury) stands no chance in the rematch,

He's always been a fraud. Wlad was a cowardly fighter who did very little in the ring that night and always fought scared after he got starched previously. There was no masterclass that night, the fight could have gone either way, as evidenced by the bookies having both fighters priced at pickem odds at the final bell. The revisionists could have almost doubled their net worth if they put their money on such a sure thing but nobody was backing Fury to win as it was a close boring fight in Wlads adopted backyard. Wlad himself was a fraud. He ran away from a Sanders rematch, instead getting Vitali to fight him and then claiming a win himself. He then fought a litany of crap fighters in a horrid reign.

Wilder is one of the poorest champions we've had. A man who can't even throw a jab and lost the majority of rounds against the likes of Eric Molina, Duahpas, Spilka, Washington, 50 year old Ortiz - watch the fights, he is down on any sane and fair cards before he lands one punch. Fury struggled in the first fight and was dropped again in the third fight. He's been hurt and dropped many times in his career.

He is a straight up fraud. You had people buying his hype as the best heavyweight of all time which was laughable and showed up the lack of knowledge of some. Usyk had a fairly comfortable win in the end and really should have got a stoppage in round 9 if not for poor officiating. Usyk is a good fighter but I wouldn't put him in the class of a Bowe, Lewis, Tyson, Holyfield, Holmes etc. I'd give the likes of lower tier heavyweights like Witherspoon (in shape), Norton, Cooney the edge over Usyk.

Fury is extremely lucky that he missed the Vitali era because he wouldn't have stood much of a chance with Vitali. Knowing Furys luck, Vitali would get a nasty cut in round 1.

It's uncanny to compare Furys fight record against Nik Valuev.

Both merely had huge size advantage over their opponents; both beat a very old and faded ATG in Holyfield/Wlad; both lost to a much smaller cruiserweight in Hayes/Usyk .. appearance wise they could also be brothers.

Was Fury all that?
To be fair to him it's not really a question because for the era he fought in he has had enough to get to be the top 2nd or 3rd fighter of his generation.

Fury was born at the right time. Nik Valuev gets identified as one of the worse champs in history - Fury has previously been identified as one of the best .. poor Valuev simply born too soon.

tonyevs wrote: ↑02 Oct 2024, 02:00 It's uncanny to compare Furys fight record against Nik Valuev.

Both merely had huge size advantage over their opponents; both beat a very old and faded ATG in Holyfield/Wlad; both lost to a much smaller cruiserweight in Hayes/Usyk .. appearance wise they could also be brothers.

Was Fury all that?
To be fair to him it's not really a question because for the era he fought in he has had enough to get to be the top 2nd or 3rd fighter of his generation.

Fury was born at the right time. Nik Valuev gets identified as one of the worse champs in history - Fury has previously been identified as one of the best .. poor Valuev simply born too soon.

So, using that theory, Julius Long should have reigned supreme?

Theory?

Sure you using correct word there Mick??

mickey1975 wrote: ↑01 Oct 2024, 11:51 He's also made himself a household name from starting with no glittering amateur career and turning over with little fanfare outside the sport. If his name is Luke (I've no idea what it is 100%) then he pulled off a masterstroke with the name, made him very memorable.

And he's achieved it with a Father who is rather less than a role model. Yet Tyson is (often) a funny, endearing chap.

I think it’s impossible to know how good Fury was. He was a performance enhancing drugs user & he got Wlad on the way down coming off a poor performance against Jennings & 20 years past the date when he won his Olympic gold medal (imagine Joshua still boxing at the top level in 2032).

I think Wilder was a top fighter but neither him or Fury fought enough contenders to prove themselves that well.

I think his & Joshua’s biggest legacy will be that they never fought each other (or certainly didn’t in their prime) & that’s a massive shame.

tonyevs wrote: ↑02 Oct 2024, 06:33 Theory?

Sure you using correct word there Mick??

No. But I'm sure you know what I mean.

Mummery wrote: ↑02 Oct 2024, 06:53 I’m not a fan of his but I can see he can be very hot and pretty cold. His performance vs Usyk surprised me and I agree with a lot of posters here that he could win the rematch if he gets his training and tactics spot on.

I never thought I’d be thinking that way. Of course Usyk seems to be even better in rematches also. It’s a very intriguing fight, I’m still picking Usyk but with less confidence than the first match.

both men went up in my estimation from that fight

AJ went up in my estimation from the 2nd Usyk fight, too. at least, till the final bell rang and someone let him near a mic

good god someone is doing the Fury = Valuev thing

yeah, absolutely uncanny resemblance. you only have to watch their footwork, right?

and it rumbles on !
Just like the AJ saga that gets dragged up each fight .

However - For me Fury has either underperformed in his career due to fitness / motivation / health issues or basically was never really anything special and has over performed due to fighing weaker opponents .

Its very clear that earlier on in his career he was elusive and awkward as well as having the moves & reach etc but had no power - had the Fury vs AJ fight taken place back around the time of his rebuild in 2018 then Joshua would have won by huge KO but he chose to fight a spaggheti legged cruiser weight who he was confident of beating easily but even this didnt go well .
And more recently getting put over on his arse by an MMA guy

A terrible Batman too. Cringe.
I’d rather watch the Shannon Briggs v Wlad skits.

Look. Fury has made zillions He’s done really well.
Kudos to the guy. He don’t make my top 50.

standouts of furys career, thus far -

- what was a very good, career high win over klitschko, until it was discovered he was on the gear
- 2 wins and a draw against wilder, a fighter who, himself, doesnt have a single notable win on his entire record
- got beaten up and floored by a zero fight novice in ngannou
- lost to current undisputed champion usyk
- never fought his most natural, obvious opponent, joshua, although you could argue where the majority of the blame should lie for this.

legacy wise, i might, at a stretch, place him at the bottom of the all time heavyweight top 30.

no, i dont believe tyson fury ever really was "all that". i think he's the most overated heavyweight of all time.

Avoiding the Price fight was a bad move. It could have been like Calzaghe Lacy where Calzaghe gets a lot of credit for beating and "ruining" a limited fighter who a lot of people were picking to beat him. Fury would have been a decent underdog at the bookies. I think he would have won the Haye fight too if Haye didn't pull out. I think Haye greatly over achieved. But it could have looked like Haye vs Enzo. The difference in speed could have made a big difference and we know Fury is chinny

TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑02 Oct 2024, 18:08 Avoiding the Price fight was a bad move. It could have been like Calzaghe Lacy where Calzaghe gets a lot of credit for beating and "ruining" a limited fighter who a lot of people were picking to beat him. Fury would have been a decent underdog at the bookies. I think he would have won the Haye fight too if Haye didn't pull out. I think Haye greatly over achieved. But it could have looked like Haye vs Enzo. The difference in speed could have made a big difference and we know Fury is chinny

I'm not so sure the Haye fight would have been that winnable because Tyson struggles with smaller mobile guys and Haye in form I think was better than Cunningham

mickey1975 wrote: ↑02 Oct 2024, 07:34

tonyevs wrote: ↑02 Oct 2024, 06:33 Theory?

Sure you using correct word there Mick??

No. But I'm sure you know what I mean.

Well; actually no ..

Fury and Valuev were both world title belts holders .. Julius Long never was.

No idea of your understanding of what a THEORY is, but I think you probably meant FANTASY.

However, I still stand by my opinion that if Fury and Wilder had BOTH retired after their 3rd fight both guys would be in a lot of peoples top 10 of heavyweight ATG lists .. even some half knowledgeable boxing fans ATG list.

At that time the suspicions of Wilder actually being sh1t and unproved, and Fury having the speed of a middleweight and skills comparable to Muhammed Ali were still being used ..

But here we are today with people dismissing Wilder outright, and the likes of Bruno, Haye and Herbie Hide being fancied to have been able KO Fury in fantasy matches.

Very few boxers can fundamentally change their style in their careers. Fury did this with aplomb.

The only other ones I can really think of are ATGs: Ali, Duran, Charles, Calzaghe...

That Fury was able to fight in vastly different ways is testament to his skillset.

I think Fury is an outstanding fighter. He can box and move, he can slug it out, change tactics mid-fight and his powers of recovery are insane.

Although he lost to Uysk, his resume is that much better for it because it reinforces what a talent he is. A third fight with Chisora or the Ngannou fight did nothing for his legacy, but the Uysk fight redeemed him.

I thought both Fury and Uysk were magnificent and served up a classic contest.

That being said, I'd like to see Fury, Uysk, Wilder and Joshua all retire. Once you get to their age there is the danger of staying on the ride but not being to work out when to get off, and you want everyone to have a happy and healthy retirement.

big lennox wrote: ↑03 Oct 2024, 08:14 I think Fury is an outstanding fighter. He can box and move, he can slug it out, change tactics mid-fight and his powers of recovery are insane.

Although he lost to Uysk, his resume is that much better for it because it reinforces what a talent he is. A third fight with Chisora or the Ngannou fight did nothing for his legacy, but the Uysk fight redeemed him.

I thought both Fury and Uysk were magnificent and served up a classic contest.

That being said, I'd like to see Fury, Uysk, Wilder and Joshua all retire. Once you get to their age there is the danger of staying on the ride but not being to work out when to get off, and you want everyone to have a happy and healthy retirement.

Great post

big lennox wrote: ↑03 Oct 2024, 08:14 I think Fury is an outstanding fighter. He can box and move, he can slug it out, change tactics mid-fight and his powers of recovery are insane.

Although he lost to Uysk, his resume is that much better for it because it reinforces what a talent he is. A third fight with Chisora or the Ngannou fight did nothing for his legacy, but the Uysk fight redeemed him.

I thought both Fury and Uysk were magnificent and served up a classic contest.

That being said, I'd like to see Fury, Uysk, Wilder and Joshua all retire. Once you get to their age there is the danger of staying on the ride but not being to work out when to get off, and you want everyone to have a happy and healthy retirement.

Pretty much agree with all this.

Not sure they're quite ready for retirement yet.

Usyk-Fury II will tell us how much both men have left.

Joshua I think still has a future. Would not quibble too much on this. But I believe he still has a big performance in him.

Wilder probably is at the end of the road. If he's not going to throw the right hand anymore then he's sorbet, a palate cleanser between courses.

He has the win against Wladimir Klitschko which at the time with such high expectations of Klitschko and low expectations of Fury(who some even viewed as a gimmick fighter believe it or not which was ridiculous) was a big shock, and that perception played a big part in how the fight was perceived.

Fury in the Klitschko fight was able to take away Klitschko's jab and didn't allow him to control the space which Wladimir always controlled and never seen him look so puzzled and lost at times, Fury was winning rounds based on this.

However in retrospective objectively the perception of the two fighters shouldn't come into it and Fury himself couldn't control the space either both men had great trouble getting the distance and nullified each other but only Fury got credit for that.

I was dubious about the punch stats also as compubox is a waste of time it's just 2 guys trying to count ringside. With such low punch volume it was easy to slow the fight down and punch count, Wladimir acctually landed 1 more punch than Fury and neither had an advantage in significant/effective punches landed so this basically confirmed to me they was equal in effectiveness and as boxing is scored round by round I did the numbers round by round and Klitschko landed more in 8 of the 12 surprisingly but the difference was minimal 2-3 punches difference so again no advantage to either on round by round.

I personally think that fight could of gone either way and with the 1 point taken off Fury and Wladimir being the champion its rare a challenger gets the nod in a fight close like that.

However Fury was the only man to be in a fight that close with Klitschko and disarm him, even Klitschko defeats he was dominating before being stopped albeit the Sanders fight which was over to quick to get an gauge.

Basically at the time beaten Klitschko on Points was viewed as virtually impossible especially from Tyson Fury on how he was perceived at the time.

The Wilder trilogy was legendary and Wilder was a very dangerous puncher those wins shouldn't be dismissed just because Wilder has looked bad recently, judge it on the version of Wilder Fury fought at the time.

Whyte is a good win he was top 10 and had been for a long time.

Wallin fight, I don't rate Wallin at all but people forget Fury only lost 3 rounds max in that fight, The cut was a complete freak the punch that did it was just a short unremarkable looking punch you wouldn't expect to cause any damage at all.

Fury then won that fight wide with impaired vision adapting to the situation which for me I was impressed and that fight acctually convinced me Fury would beat Wilder and I believed what he said he would do.

Chisora fights 1&2 are good wins, Cunningham was in good form that's a good win.

Fury performed excellently in the Usyk fights for me although he lost those performances should get recognition, Usyk is an elite fighter.

The Ngannou fight as a boxing fan I felt physically sick for weeks after that fight. I think Ngannou won on top of that don't want to say anymore on it.

Overall I think Fury is one of the best of his era the Wilder Trilogy being his highest point and the PED scandal and Ngannou fight being his lowest.

I don't think he is an all time great but he is a talented contraversal character who bought alot of great moments to boxing he fought fights that had big impact moments but didn't want to fight all comers and all styles so wasn't a good champion for that reason.

591846 wrote: ↑11 Dec 2025, 09:50 He has the win against Wladimir Klitschko which at the time with such high expectations of Klitschko and low expectations of Fury(who some even viewed as a gimmick fighter believe it or not which was ridiculous) was a big shock, and that perception played a big part in how the fight was perceived.

He still bottled the rematch. Klitschko had an off night, and was at the tail end of his career. It was a good but boring win that was never backed up.

KiwiRider wrote: ↑11 Dec 2025, 14:00

591846 wrote: ↑11 Dec 2025, 09:50 He has the win against Wladimir Klitschko which at the time with such high expectations of Klitschko and low expectations of Fury(who some even viewed as a gimmick fighter believe it or not which was ridiculous) was a big shock, and that perception played a big part in how the fight was perceived.

He still bottled the rematch. Klitschko had an off night, and was at the tail end of his career. It was a good but boring win that was never backed up.

The rematch would have been fascinating. Surely Wlad couldn't have been that gun shy again and Fury was seemingly in a dark place himself.

I think Klit wins inside, but if Tyson had prevailed we'd have known a lot more about him.

Also being dropped 4 times by Deontay The Crude does not portray Fury as a defensive master.

Tyson was clearly unwell around the time of the proposed rematch, just look at pictures of him. I wouldn't say McCall would have knocked Lennox out again if he hadn't bottled the rematch. I think he would have if wasn't clearly unwell...