Was Tyson Fury ever really 'all that'

[rhino222]

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,

[KiwiRider]

The Klitchko victory was decent, if boring. Wlad had a bad night, it has happened to him prior, but Fury bottling the rematch says a lot.
As for Wilder, the first fight was life and death for Fury, and he arguably won it. It was a good win at the time, but subsequently after the protective shield has been lowered around Wilder, he has been exposed to what we thought he was- a one trick pony.
The Ngannou fight was pretty bad, Joshua showed that conclusively only a few months later.
So in a weak era Fury has been top level, earning way more than he really deserves, and good luck to him. Personally I'm sick of his crap, sick of all the hold ups in the HW division his messing around has caused, and I will be glad to see the back of him.

[golden_labrador]

as they're currently saying in football again, it's all about the dark arts. Team Fury sailed serenely until forced to cross Usyk.

[dr_devious]

Let's see on the 21st December a Fury win isn't out of the question.

The three battles with Wilder have put a dent in Tyson's punch resistance imo.

I think he was all that though. Nobody else ever outboxed Vlad or stood up to Wilder's best punches. And he gave Usyk probably his toughest fight first time out despite being past his best.

[gregregegg]

Most resumes fall apart a bit under closer inspection…

Fury past prime kilt, possibly average wilder, over rated Whyte… overrated Otto, beat up by usyk…

But AJ has a bunch of old guy euros, some mediocre Americans, a few losses, and a stinker with Parker that the ref ruined.

Joyce has a Parker stoppage and a ddd stoppage… which at the moment is looking on par with those guys wins…. Also has some of the worst losses out there)

Resumes are hard to assess in hindsight , somtimes gotta remember how it felt at the time…

[Bobbyptsd]

I wish I hated my enemies as much as you guys hate Fury.

[Boxerbeetle]

None of the current heavyweight division have ever been 'all that'. Fury has probably been the second best of his era overall behind Usyk (who's not an ATG heavy but obvs an ATG cruiser), which is a considerable achievement in itself. It's a very weak era though.

[keithmoonhangover]

I wish I hated my enemies as much as you guys hate Fury.

I was a massive fan until he failed a PED test.

[The Gratest]

I'll reserve full judgement until after the rematch with Usyk (and then, if it happens, the trilogy).
Fighters in the past, when suffering their first loss, have been offered redemption in the form of a rematch. Louis, Ali, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis and Joshua have all enhanced their pedigree by being able to come back and beat those who have defeated them. If Fury can do the same against Usyk, then he should be offered the same respect given to those before him who have been able to make the required adjustments and subsequent praise for doing so.

Saying that, using his and his team's own words, he was up against a 'middleweight', 'a guy no bigger than his wife', a gap toothed rabbit who'd previously been beaten by a welterweight. Fury really did hold all the advantages going into that fight; 6 inches in height, 7 inches in reach and over 30lbs in weight. It would almost have been the equivalent of a Super Middleweight Canelo beating the Cruiserweight version of Usyk, and if that happened, Usyk wouldn't be viewed as 'being all that'.
That's just conjecture though. Instead, praise to Usyk as he's not only a class, masterful boxer, but also a mentally strong individual who was ready to give as good as he got with the mindgames. He won't have the depth of resume at heavyweight to be listed as an ATG (although the Dubois win has now been enhanced somewhat) but, if he wins the rematch, will be seen as the best of this era.

Fury can take that from him though. If he can keep his concentration throughout the rematch and resist his need to mug for the crowd I can see him pipping Usyk on points. He deserves all the praise if he can do that though. Coming back from a defeat should be seen as a positive test of character.

[KiwiRider]

I wish I hated my enemies as much as you guys hate Fury.

I was a massive fan until he failed a PED test.

Oh heck, I forgot about adding that!
Not only did he fail the test, he bribed that pig farmer to testify for him, then stiffed the farmer the £25,000 anyway!

[Ezzard]

A brilliant fighter. He gave Usyk his hardest fight to date. It took an ATG performance from Usyk to turn the tide.

Inactivity and lifestyle have hurt Fury but there can be no doubt about his ability in the ring.

[mickey1975]

A brilliant fighter. He gave Usyk his hardest fight to date. It took an ATG performance from Usyk to turn the tide.

Inactivity and lifestyle have hurt Fury but there can be no doubt about his ability in the ring.

Shane McGuigan said in interview he was very surprised Tyson fought as well as he did in the Usyk fight after watching him against Whyte and Del.

[Counter-puncher]

A brilliant fighter. He gave Usyk his hardest fight to date. It took an ATG performance from Usyk to turn the tide.

Inactivity and lifestyle have hurt Fury but there can be no doubt about his ability in the ring.

Shane McGuigan said in interview he was very surprised Tyson fought as well as he did in the Usyk fight after watching him against Whyte and Del.

i was surprised too

[stujones]

Not really is the the answer to the question.

For me the two stand out performances of his career was fight 1 vs Wilder after that period of inactivity and the box/punch style vs Whyte. However, Wilder is just really poor and Whyte legacy post Fury hasn't been great.

"History" seems to do Fury these massive favours all the time - A masterclass vs KLitchsko. I have seen far worst decisions go to the home fighter had Klitchsko get his hand raised. Not did I hear an ATG mention for Fury vs Uysk. Are people seriously thinking that fight was close - yes in probably the opposite to Barrera vs Hamed where the score cards didn't reflect the fight itself - but I had Usyk a 5 point winner. That's pretty damn decisive.

He was very lucky to not be with 4 losses on his resume now - McDemmott 1, Wallin (via cuts stoppage) and Ngannou. And the Klitschko fight was close.

People are forgetting that - calling it a bad performance vs Ngannou but no one is now thinking Ngannou was robbed (as they were when the fight happened).

[joshj909]

Not really is the the answer to the question.

For me the two stand out performances of his career was fight 1 vs Wilder after that period of inactivity and the box/punch style vs Whyte. However, Wilder is just really poor and Whyte legacy post Fury hasn't been great.

"History" seems to do Fury these massive favours all the time - A masterclass vs KLitchsko. I have seen far worst decisions go to the home fighter had Klitchsko get his hand raised. Not did I hear an ATG mention for Fury vs Uysk. Are people seriously thinking that fight was close - yes in probably the opposite to Barrera vs Hamed where the score cards didn't reflect the fight itself - but I had Usyk a 5 point winner. That's pretty damn decisive.

He was very lucky to not be with 4 losses on his resume now - McDemmott 1, Wallin (via cuts stoppage) and Ngannou. And the Klitschko fight was close.

People are forgetting that - calling it a bad performance vs Ngannou but no one is now thinking Ngannou was robbed (as they were when the fight happened).

5 if you add the draw with Wilder (I did have Fury winning but with the knockdowns it was close). I also agree that the Klitschko fight was way closer than most people realise. People act like he dominated and barely lost a round but there was only 2 rounds in it on 2 of the 3 cards.

We can pick holes in everybody's record and I think it's better to do it after the career or reign is over so you can get a better view. Fury is good but got lucky on occasion and is a proven drug cheat. Joshua is good and also got lucky on occasion, sometimes also got unlucky. Wilder has been exploited as a can crusher who relied on luck, or his one trick, heavily. The jury is out on Dubois as he has been both lucky and unlucky it seems. Usyk has proven to be superior and it isn't yet obvious that he's relied on luck at all.

[smiling assassin]

He is still a bit of an enigma. He has dealt with average fighters accordingly like Whyte and Chisora but has also been made to look very ordinary in fights where he was expected to shine.

Wilder has been made out to be a bum now but there is no denying he was a very dangerous but limited fighter when Tyson fought him. Klit was past his best but was still more than capable as he showed later against AJ. The Nganou fight is the one that really gets me but I sort of give him a pass as I really don’t think he took that fight serious at all ( but what do I. Know).

The Usyk fight to me really shows that Fury is a top fighter. He had moments in that fight where he had Usyk looking ponderous and I thought he was going to dominate him, then got a bit complacent and got tagged and was very lucky to not get stopped but to then comeback showed real heart. Anyone who thinks the rematch is a foregone conclusion must of watched another fight to the one I see as I think the rematch only slightly favours Usyk.

So I do think Fury was all that but he was all that in a era that was bossed by a cruiserweight with a load of fighters who were not all that so an ‘Enigma’ still stands.

[Ezzard]

Bossed by a Cruiser is harsh. Usyk might be the best ever Cruiser, at worst #2. Maybe the best fighter of the milenium so far.

And with same day weigh-ins and modern tech around weight loss, Ali could/would have been a Cruiser in today's era. And Louis would definitely be.

[mickey1975]

Did anyone ever think he was all that? He was a meme before memes were even a thing for hitting himself, calling out gay plumbers, etc. I would guess if you looked back on here he has far surpassed anything anyone expected of him. Massive underdog against Wlad and Wilder. Go back and look at the polls, nobody expected anything, yet here he is, 16 years later, won all the belts and has one loss on his record to a great fighter.

[coneye]

Personaly , i give him more credit now than i did early in his carreer ,, Early doors i really thought h was a ducker and a diver , handpicking refusing 50-50 fights and lucky very lucky sometimes , i thought it was hype and refused to buy into it

Then he beat KLitchko and you had to give him credit , he went into there backyard and done the job , Ok we all said after Klitchko was old , finished ect ect , but facts are who else done it .

Wilder , well its been shown since that he was no where near has good has made out BUT HE COULD STILL PUNCH and it took Fury to do the buisness and show he was'nt / is'nt the bogey man everyone thought he was .

Tyson has had some awful showings but he's also stood up when he needed to be counted , Usyk well he's jst better than all off them but it was still competetive . .

So all in all was Tyson superman , no he was'nt but he's probably not has good has his real big fans think he is ,, but definetly when he puts his mind too it no where near has bad has his haters think

[Boxerbeetle]

I don't really hold Fury's poor performances against him, nearly every good fighter has been in some stinkers / not looked particularly good on occasion. Just think back to how many Calzaghe and Lennox had between them! Some fighters seem to naturally just go down a few gears against lower opposition, not ideal for a spectator but understandable.

[si7dog7]

He’s been good. Not great. Good.
Beat Wlad, just. Then went awol for a variety of reasons. A rematch should have happened but didn’t. Came back and although even more overweight than usual beat Wilder (x 2.5). Then hand picks until beaten by a Middleweight (ATG Cruiser btw)
Is he “all that?”
Since Evander , Lennox and Vitali to some extent. The heavyweight division has been very very poor.

[Noxy]

He is "all that" because

1. he's skilled and quick
2. he's entertaining
3. when the pressure's on, he steps up. Loads of "heart" as the pundits call it.

It's easy to denigrate the likes of Wlad and Wilder now. Cast your minds back to before those fights were made. No-one outside his camp gave him a prayer. Was he fussed? I think not.
The first Wilder fight was particularly satisfying. Hearn was talking about how they couldn't make a contract for Josh vs Wilder. Fury stepped out of obscurity and goes - I'll fight him. Everyone thought he was just after a payday. I actually thought he'd win the fight, as he almost did.

GO FURY!!!

[si7dog7]

He’s skilled and quick? Yes indeed.
Entertaining? In the eyes of the beholder. Many find him an incredible bore trading off of his “issues”.
Loads of heart. Unquestionable

It’s all in the detail for me. Regarding Wlad or Wilder. I never rated them in the first place so I’m not looking back in retrospect.

Fury’s resume atm just doesn’t cut it. AJ’s is better by a slither (on oppo faced). but not by much.

Ok many will say I’ve got rose tinted glasses re: 70s/80s/90s.

It was pretty great though.

[mickey1975]

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.

[NazNaci1]

None of the current heavyweight division have ever been 'all that'. Fury has probably been the second best of his era overall behind Usyk (who's not an ATG heavy but obvs an ATG cruiser), which is a considerable achievement in itself. It's a very weak era though.

^^ This tbh.

Best win was a boring win against an ageing Wlad. Wilder exposed for what he was, a massive, protected hype job......and other than that, nothing really of note.

To be honest, I thought both McDermott and Ngannou beat him. Gone farther than I thought he would, and he has bottle to burn, which goes a very, very long way.

ATG levels? Nah. Best of this era? Debatable as I think Uysk is a better fighter but as BB stated, this era is very weak. 99% of these fighters (bar Uysk) do not / cannot even throw combinations or do the basics, stuff taken for granted in previous eras (even now, watching re-runs of say, Bowe - Holy 1, Lewis - Mercer, Tyson vs Berbick or Thomas, Tucker v Douglas, Holy v Foreman, Douglas v Tyson - skillsets are next level, compared to what is around, today).