Don't get me wrong - I'd love Fury to be at his best & beat Usyk but Zhed raises some thoughtful points. And lord knows what the sparring partner was doing to inflict the damage with his elbow - something which is a big no, no in boxing. The internal & external pressure to not lose in 36 fights must be immense and Fury himself will know it's a dangerous game to be in the ring in the wrong frame of mind. And once he steps into the ring alone without all the media, promoters, support team, coaches, family & friends next to him it is, as Joe Louis famously said "Once that bell rings you're on your own. It's just you and the other guy"
I’m a Fury fan. And I hope his success story continues. But he has to take the rough with the smooth. He’s dined out on the Wilder trilogy for too long. He’s 2 or 3 fights away from greatness. It’s time to step up to the plate or quit.
Glad to hear it, and hope that we all accept that freak things can happen and cuts are caused, delaying fights. At least on one occasion!
On your own at the bell -Fury has been there as many times as any and more than most. His record is unbeaten in 35 matches. Some people say silly things which rarely prove to be accurate. I say Fury could walk away from the fight game, fantastically wealthy with his head held high, and if he wants to he will. But he hasn't and a little benefit of the doubt would not be overly generous to a two times world champion imo, especially just two days after the accident.
Aaaaaaaannnnnnyyyyywwaaaayyyy, enough of this gay banter…… Ben Whittaker is fighting again at the moment and 2 rounds in he is fighting in his usual unusual style.
Two persuasive reasons why it will be on Fury took aim at Usyk's manager Egis Klimas who questioned the legitimacy of his injury. "Egis, never call me a coward again," he said. "[I have] never backed down from any man in my life." If either Usyk or Fury withdrew from the new date they would forfeit £9.3m to the other fighter. Go Fury!
It was too much and tbh though I’m a fan, I was kind of hoping the ref would dock him a point so he reins it in a bit. He has amazing reflexes and a very unorthodox style which clearly unsettles his opponents and is highly effective, but he does take the piss. The Buatsi v Azeez headliner was a cracking scrap with none of those shenanigans though.
Great! The only pisser for me is that I was going to be home for the recently postponed fight and I’d organised a friends and family gathering, doh!! A pound says in May I’ll be away
Yep, as long as Fury doesn't lose his rag over it that may well be the incentive he needs to get & stay focussed.
Kids had four fights and he’s behaving like prime Ali lol If I was coaching a fighter like that I’d have thrown the towel in out of embarrassment
C'mon how can you not like someone who turns up to a press conference in a Lambo dressed as Batman and wrestles the joker to the ground...
The Matrix style dodging and weaving with his hands down and the wacky punches that come in from all sorts of odd angles are impressive and entertaining, but I could do without all the taunting, dancing and strutting around the ring. However, it gets a lot of clicks and sells lots of tickets because half the crowd love it and the other half want to see his opponent teach him a lesson. The trouble with those sort of antics is that the fans will expect ever more extravagant showboating each time he fights but that’s going to get a lot riskier as he starts to encounter better quality opposition. At some point those two lines on the graph will intersect and he’ll get flattened. He was much more conservative and conventional when he was an amateur (obviously) and here he is getting out-pointed by a talented Uzbek.
I know I’m old fashioned and in the minority but I like (and admire) when sportsmen (and ladies) have some form of grace and humility to go with their exceptional talents. See pecco, salah etc… I don’t even like ROS anymore as a person (I’m sure he’ll be devastated etc..) Fury reminds me of that scruff who won the lottery and spent it all on coke and gold sovereign rings. It won’t and never ends well (and that charades all been done before and by better). .
Those boys from the Russian 'stans are coached so well and always seem to have a classic boxers stance with good feet and defensive hands. Teak tough as well with, I imagine, the sort of background that is more than enough incentive to take it seriously. The new Central Americans of boxing. So I'm looking at Whittaker there and thinking who in his team has told or let him go out there and act like a dick. Because he can box but it ain't gonna help his career when, as you say, he meets some quality who gives him a spanking. These early fights should be about learning.
I hear you and know what you are saying but I'm wondering if it's always been the case that very few sports people have the humility and respect of which you mention. People often cite guys like Bobby Moore but for every one of them there was a Nobby Stiles or a Norman Hunter or a Dave Mackay. It just today there's wall to wall social media that help the bad un's bring in the clicks. Fury reminds me of the scallys in (our small) town bombing around in their sheds or on their KTM 125s with loud megas. Gathering around the green outside the fire station having a couple of smokes & cans and talking about who's shagging who. But for all their uncouthness they're a harmless bunch and in fact most of them are good kiddies in their own right. You can't change your upbringing and for all of Fury's chavness I reckon he's a good man as well.
