"So you're saying..." - come on man, stop projecting. I think Whyte is a solid win. Which is suggested by my ranking. Fury turned up in shape and won with ease. That speaks to Fury's ability. But the facts are there regarding his opponent selections and the fights he has avoided over the years. If you want to believe Fury took on all comers, that's up to you, but it goes against reality. Heck I don't even really hold it against him, every fighter these days seems to be carefully managed. Edit: Basically, Fury is the best heavyweight WHEN he is in the ring. But the circus surrounding him has gotten exponentially worse over the years, with Fury being half Ring Master, half clown-prince. He talks way too much crap these days, and doesn't do enough actual fighting of the best in the division. Which for a talent like him is an absolute waste.
I know it was Chisora, he was due to fight on that occasion. Never said otherwise You are getting a bit defensive there, as if trying to push a point rather than a civil debate, which is you think Fury was afraid of Ustinov and that I am not convinced of that and think there were surrounding circumstances I noted he had agreed before then to face Haye and had offered Wilder the fight when Haye had to withdraw How would any of that expose I wasn't watching boxing? Do explain lol I will get around to watching your video btw
what’s that got to do with anything in this thread? It’s about as relevant as what his favourite meal was on Sunday mornings
He was definitely in better shape both physically and mentally when he fought Joshua and yes, despite being tactically naive when he was younger he was better than the version Fury fought
How was he definitely in better shape? Because the AJ fight was on Sky? He was coming off a 10 year win streak and had come advantage vs. Fury. He'd been out the ring about 2 years vs Joshua.
He was not happy with a situation but I can't see how you think he was avoiding big men. He fought Wilder and Wladimir. He defended against Wilder and I think Whyte is about 6'4"
Finkel's argument is that Fury didn't want Wlad to see how he fought bigger heavyweights as this would have given Wlad a piece of intel that he didn't have. But Fury did fight some heavies around Wlad's stature: Abell (6'4) Firtha (6'6) Nascimento (6'5). The argument then would be that they were levels below Wlad (6'6) but so were Price (6'8) and Ustinov (6'8). Fury also may have fought them totally differently to how he fought Wlad, which would have provided misdirection for Wlad potentially. What caught Wlad off guard was not Fury's approach (which was very similar to the approach taken in his two previous fights, as could be seen from the opening bell) but Fury's engine, durability and that the judges in Germany didn't give him more than 3-4 rounds. Wlad may have also underestimated Fury's skills a bit but that was secondary because he believed that Fury would slow down and wouldn't be able to take his power after 6 rounds.
TLDR: For one reason or another in the age of super heavies, many top 50 fighters are 6'5"+, yet Fury has surprisingly few on his resume. I think they are conspicuous by their absence. I primarily just providing the video showing why he wasn't happy about fighting Ustinov. Sorry I'm somewhat repeating myself as I already posted this but I was talking mainly about his run to the title against Wlad. Why didn't he fight 6'8" Price? This was a fight many wanted to see for years. He clearly didn't want to fight 6'8" Ustinov, and went back to fighting smaller men. A Helenius, even? Yes, Fury fought some big men with losing records when on the come up, but we are in an era of super heavyweights, and they practically vanished from his resume once he started fighting top 50 opponents. Then consider he did everything he did to avoided a rematch with 6'6" Wlad. All credit to Fury for winning on the road. But most expected a very different fight if it happened again. With many analysts expecting Wlad to come with a similar approach to what we saw against Joshua. But as you say, he fought Wilder 3 times. But half the division was chomping at the bit to get him in the ring, and Wilder is naturally a significantly smaller man than Fury and not exactly a good boxer. And let's be fair he wasn't exactly rushing to make the second and third fight. Regarding 6'4" Whyte, I'm really happy he fought him, but Fury is 6'8"/6'9", and again Whyte isn't the best fundamentally. For all of Price's issues with his chin, he was of similar size to Fury, could box and had real power. I suspect that was the worry with Ustinov too. Also we have seen how much grief 6'6" Otto Wallin gave him. Maybe it is better to say, the Tyson moulded by Peter was reluctant to fight big men on equal footing. Kronk Tyson is confident using his size more. I look forward to Tyson fleshing out his resume some more (and proving me wrong), when he comes out of retirement to fight Joe Joyce in October.
"Why didn't he fight 6'8" Price?" They couldn't agree terms (both wanted A-side advantage) and then Price lost to Thompson. "He clearly didn't want to fight 6'8" Ustinov" His uncle died pretty much the same day. "A Helenius, even?" Out of contention after he got a gift against Chisora. "Yes, Fury fought some big men with losing records when on the come up" Nascimento: 13-0 Firtha: 20-8-1 Abell: 29-7 "But as you say, he fought Wilder 3 times." This in itself should obliterate the critique. Since Fury's comeback 6/8 of his opponents have been 6'5+. Wlad and Wilder are probably the most dangerous 6'5+ HW's Fury could fight and he's fought them 4 times. If you want a fighter who avoids tall heavyweights look at AJ. After a post-Fury Wlad there's not much there.