The mammoth 6’9″ WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will be “too big” for IBF/WBA/WBO champ Oleksandr Usyk in their undisputed championship fight next month on February 17th, predicts Eddie Hearn.
Most experts agree with Hearn, thinking that the 270+ lb Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) has too much size with his giant brontosaurus frame going up against the former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Size matters but…
Hearn’s question is whether the 35-year-old Fury’s recent performance against boxing novice Francis Ngannou last October was a sign of decline or inadequate preparation.
Fury is at the age where most fighters start showing signs of being over the hill, and he looks older than his chronological age.
It obviously doesn’t help Fury that he lets weight get out of control in between fights, as having to take off a large spare tire every time he competes can have a further aging effect on a fighter.
Quality of opposition
Even more critical is the lack of quality opposition that Fury has faced in the last eight years of his professional. If one takes a close look at who Fury has been beating to pad his record since his one big career win against 40-year-old Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, he’s beaten no of real talent unless you want to call Deontay Wilder talented.
Apart from Fury’s win over an unskilled, one-dimensional Deontay Wilder, these are Tyson’s wins since 2015:
– Francis Ngannou
– Dereck Chisora
– Dillian Whyte
– Otto Wallin
– Tom Schwarz
– Sefer Seferi
– Francesco Pianeta
Fury’s opposition has been beyond horrible since his victory over an old Wladimir, but interestingly, this goes over the heads of fans, promoters, and the media.
How can you not look at Fury’s resume and conclude that his entire career is based on smoke & mirrors, with a major production being made about his win over a washed 40-year-old Wladmir?
Unless you’re out of touch with reality, with your head in the sand and utterly clueless, you must admit that Fury has faced marginal oppositional, which is still unproven. He’s old, and that can’t help him against a talent like Usyk, has better wins on his resume.
It was promoter trickery that made fans think Fury was the real thing. He never was as good as the simpletons thought he was, which is why he looked so awful against boxing novice Francis Ngannou. Fury was a creation, made to look good through careful match-making.
The 2012 Olympic gold medalist Usyk has faced MUCH better opposition than Fury during his professional career. There’s no comparison, really.
Usyk’s best wins:
– Anthony Joshua x 2
– Daniel Dubois
– Dereck Chisora
– Mairis Briedis
– Murat Gassiev
– Krzysztof Głowacki
– Tony Bellew
– Michael Hunter
– Marco Huck
– Thabiso Mchunu
Goliath’s Shadow: Will Size Reign Supreme?
“I think Tyson Fury wins the fight. It all depends on what we saw in the [Francis] Ngannou fight [last October]. Was it him not taking it seriously, or if it was him in decline, then he’s going to have a tough night against Usyk,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing when asked about his thoughts on the February 17th undisputed heavyweight championship bout between WBC champion Tyson Fury and IBF, WBA & WBO champ Oleksandr Usyk.
What we saw in the Ngannou fight wasn’t only physical age rearing its ugly head. It’s ugly heasd with Fury. It was also the reality that he was never the fighter that naive boxing fans had originally thought. He was just a big guy who was lucky enough to fight old Wladimir at the end of his career without his trainer, Emanuel Steward, who had passed away in 2012.
Fury has beaten NO one since the win over Klitschko. Deontay has always always been an unskilled fighter with one punch in his arsenal, and other than him, Fury never beat anyone good after his win over 40-year-old Wladimir. He lost to John McDermott and deserved to lose his first fight against Wilder.
“I think he’s [Fury] going to be too big in that fight. If he’s switched on and trained properly, which you’d expect him to do and be, I expect him to be, but you can’t rule out Oleksandr Usyk,” Hearn said, knowing from history how good Usyk is after twice watching him defeat his flagship heavyweight Anthony Joshua.
“It’s a tremendous heavyweight fight, another massive fight in Saudi Arabia, and great for the heavyweight division and great for boxing that we’re seeing that undisputed fight,” said Hearn about the Usyk vs. Fury four-belt championship.
