Fury does not really want to fight Wilder again

Yes and No.

He was taken to court for the third fight, not the second and you heavily implied Fury didn't want to fight him from fear, which was not the case. Fury is borderline too stupid to be afraid he just wanted bigger and better things than Wilder with more money and accolades.

Kudos on being able to update your opinion of Fury over the years based on what you've seen. Most people can't do that and it takes strength to admit when you're wrong. We need more like you in that department.

 

Props to you for admitting your mistakes.

He wanted to get out of the Wilder fight because it was a waste of his time. He wanted Joshua, and being legally tethered to a hard-punching club fighter cost him the opportunity to prove he is the undisputed best of his era.

Kudos to you. though, on seeing how wrong you were.

 

I don't know about that.

The changes are arguably a result of the last few rounds of the first fight, where he saw how wobbly Wilder could be if you attacked him more - combine that with what most serious observers view as a terrible injustice on the cards (crucially the ridiculous 115-111 card) and perhaps he felt like it wasn't worth risking it go to the cards when a more aggressive approach would make Wilder fold and went to the ideal trainer to help him implement that (and obviously took the time necessary to work on it).

That to my mind seems more likely than fear.

But to each their own.

 

I was never initially impressed by Fury and like most poeple only jumped on the Fury train after he beat Wlad, Emmanuel Steward predicted Fury would be the future of the division just a few months after he got put down by Pajkic. Who else predicted that? Testament to the genius of Steward.

 

This aged not so well.

 

Steward worked with Fury whilst he was in Wlad's camp in 2011 and earlier after Fury turned up out of the blue to the Kronk Gym after Andy Lee prompted him to.

The first thing you see is whether someone has it mentally (confidence, mentality etC) and Fury had that at such a level Emmanuel stated that it was above Wlad's own ability.

"Never underestimate the toughness of Tyson Fury"

Emmanuel saw him spar and that's all he needed to see.

 

I must admit I assumed Manny was going senile at that point.

 

He changed trainers after the Wallin fight. John Fury was not happy with Ben Davison's cautious approach which saw Fury get that nasty cut. He told him to get rid.

That's the real reason he changed trainers.

 

I would contend that this is slightly wide of the mark, in some regards, too...

Fury turned up not fully fit and somewhat ring rusty in #1 and still should've won - he could've done it again, but who's to say he wouldn't have been thwarted by a dodgy card again? (Fwiw, even with full Wilder-tinted specs on I can't score that beyond 113-113 - I can accept the draw card, but the 115-111 one I simply cannot).

The changes could easily be argued as putting it beyond possibility for more funny business rather than a lack of belief in his ability to produce what should've been at least a mixed decision and probably a unanimous one.

Fury turned up clearly not fully fit in #3 and still won.

Sure Wilder scored knockdowns in both those fights, but I don't think it's entirely unfair to say Fury could rock up on almost any day and beat Wilder.

There are levels in boxing, Fury is proven at a far higher one than Wilder and very, very little from the three fights suggested that this wasn't for good reason.

As above, there's changes because you know you can't win that way (which is where AJ is right now - he knows he needs to change to stand any chance with Usyk) and there's changes because you fear getting screwed over again.

I find the idea that we can take this line seriously rather naïve, sorry.

It looks better for Fury's resume if he can keep the Wilder hype train going by insisting he's a serious fighter even though he's not proven to be one.

Besides, look at the other candidates for #2 (assuming Fury actually is #1 for the sake of argument):
- Usyk
- AJ
- Whyte (stretching a lot, mind, but still more proven than Wilder).

What do those alternative #2 fighters have in common? Oh yes, Fury hasn't fought any of them - so he'd really know who's #2, wouldn't he?

The last line is somewhat ironic to me, given that I'd argue rating Wilder as #2 is pure showmanship in and of itself...

 

I was on the right side of things all the way through. You would have to have been a real dim bulb to think Fury was afraid of the knockdowns. After the first fight, when Wilder hit him with his best, he knew for sure that he could always get back up.

There was no intrigue to anyone with a brain. Fury was badly physically denuded in the first, and 80%-90% of folks still thought he won. I picked Fury to win all three, and in reality, he did.